Anything and Everything 6: Forever
by Buddyboy98
Summary: Final Installment of the Anything and Everything Series; AU; Rose/Jake. The Long Family is entering a new chapter in it's existence with Rose's new job. They will be thrown into a world that they never knew about and couple that with heavy family issues.
1. Prologue

**Anything and Everything 6: Kiss of a Rose **

_**Three Days after the Events of 'The Eagle and Dragon' **_

**Prologue**

* * *

><p>"What do we know about Secretary Designate Rose Long?" The CNN Anchorwoman asked the two '<em>experts<em>' that sat with her at the roundtable.

One of the men smiled at her and shrugged, "We don't really know all that much about her, we only know what we've received from the Government, from President Eggert's Staff. She was a Senior Detective for the Los Angeles Police Department, based on the testimony of the former Chief of Police and Chief of Detectives for the LAPD for the confirmation committee yesterday, she's extremely talented, tough and brilliant. Through her investigation, she busted a Child Smuggling Operation coming into LA and sent the boss to Death Row. He was executed about five years ago. The former Chief of Police has literally everything nice to say about the Secretary-designate. Her record there is squeaky clean. She would have been given an administrative position in the LAPD, more then likely, if she hadn't abruptly resigned."

The Anchor turned to the other '_expert_' on the Secretary of Defense Designate, "Do we know why this happened?"

"Our sources say that she returned to New York City to be with her daughter," The expert shrugged and shook his head, "But we could not independently confirm that as the reason, so don't quote us. From there, she married, she has six children, and her eldest has six of her own. She joined the Central Intelligence Agency roughly thirteen years ago. We, obviously, don't have full access to the records of the CIA, but from what we have managed to get our hands on, she has been called by both the Deputy Director of the CIA and the Director of the CIA one of the most decorated operatives in the past thirty yea-..."

Picking up the remote to the television of her Washington D.C Hotel Suite, Rose Long turned the television off and turned to face her husband with a bit of a smile, "As I recall, when I heard about Johnny Chung's execution and I just had to hear that son of bitches last words. And, his last few moments were, not surprisingly, spent cursing the day that '_cracker bitch who busted me_' was born. I was so upset that I couldn't make it to see that needle put into his arm. But, I did manage to give him something of a farewell present. I heard from the guard that he particularly enjoyed it."

Jake smiled, "What did you send him?"

The former Huntsgirl turned and walked to the large ceiling to floor window that overlooked the Capitol of the United States. Rose folded her arms over her chest and smiled at the memory of that day, "You know those special cards and balloons that are made to tell someone '_Happy Birthday_' or '_Graduating Class of 2013_'? Well, I sent him a balloon that said '_Bon Voyage_' and a card that said _with love from Rose_."

He chuckled loudly and fell backwards onto the bed, he shook his head while the rest of his body shook with unrestrained laugher, "You sent someone, who was about to die, a Bon Voyage card!"

"I know," Rose smiled and turned to look at her face in the mirror, she was just about ready to get going, she just needed confirmation that her family was going to be in the chamber that was serving as her confirmation place when she arrived. She looked great, her hair was tied back into a tight bun and she wore a black top and skirt that made her look her best, "But if you would have seen the things that I saw that man do to kids, you would be getting drunk and shitting on his grave. But enough of the sordid past, give a call to Erin and Alyssa and see if they've arrived at Capitol Hill yet."

Jake nodded and reached over to the bedside table of the lavish suite to pick up his cellphone, Rose turned to watch him and then quickly looked at her own cellphone. She had just received a text message saying that she, her father, mother, brother, nephews and niece had all arrived. She hadn't told any other member of her family that her biological family was coming for the last day of the confirmation hearings. She just wasn't ready to have it out all in the open, but she guessed that today would be the day. Quickly texting back her acknowledgement, she tucked her cellphone into the pocket of her jacket top and turned back to her husband who was on the phone with either Erin or Alyssa. He had been so great during this entire time, and she felt that she couldn't have been luckier to have him.

She and Jake had been in Washington for two days for the entire confirmation hearings. Erin was coming down from New York to attend. Johnny, Alyssa and Liza were coming down also to attend. The rest of her grandchildren were still with Mark in Oklahoma attending Natalia Harrison's, Erin's Daughter, College Graduation. While Marissa and DJ, who had been watching the rest of her kids for the past two days, were coming down as well. Her next occupation would be decided by the end of the night by a vote from the House. The vote was scheduled for 9:00 PM and that meant she had the entire day to wait. Jennie Eggert, the President of the United States, had invited her and her family to come and wait for confirmation at the White House and she intended to take that up. So, including her siblings, nephews and nieces, her entire family, neglecting five out six of her grandchildren, was going to be here with her. Rose smiled to herself, this was her greatest achievement to date and she felt like the Queen of the World.

Jake hung up his phone and turned to his wife, "You'll be happy to know that everyone has arrived at the chamber, and they're waiting. They also told me something very interesting."

Folding her arms over her chest, she raised and eyebrow, "And what is that?"

"They ran into your biological family," Jake said in a light tone, "It turns out that they sat down right next to each other, all of our children did a double take when they saw your sister. They're getting acquainted. Now, I'm not angry or surprised that you invited them, in fact I would have expected you to. I just want to know why you thought it was best to keep this secret from me, any explanation?"

Rose sighed, "I-I don't know-…I just thought-…I don't know why I didn't tell you. I called them when the President and I got back from the Isle of Draco. I told them the news and that if they wanted to come and be here, they were more than welcome to. I just didn't want to spring it on you, you know how I am, I love the element of surprise. Now, we can have the family get to know them, I want to get to know them. I never had a father and a mother, Jake and I want them to see this. I want them to be there when I'm sworn in. I just didn't know how to break it to you and the family, and now, I don't have to."

"Rose, you're getting hysterical," Jake chuckled and stood up from the bed, "Don't worry about it, I can't understand it from your point of view, but I can understand your hesitation knowing our children."

"I mean you heard how Alyssa reacted when you said that they were her grandparents, at least this way, she's smart enough to know if she reacts like that, she'll get thrown out," Rose concluded.

Jake chuckled and adjusted his tie, "Good point, are you ready to go?"

Nodding, Rose looked back into the mirror to look at her appearance and then grabbed a leather bound dossier from the dresser. It was everything she'd need to know about answering questions from the House Members. Grasping it tighter, she winked at Jake and headed towards the door, feeling him flank her quickly. Opening the door, she was met by a large man, dressed in a black suit and wearing black sunglasses, the fact that Secret Service Agents wore sunglasses indoors amused her to no end. Smiling at him, Rose heard Jake shut the door to their room behind him, "Agent Carmichael, are we ready?"

"Yes, Madam Secretary-Designate," The Secret Service Agent assigned to her nodded, "The Motorcade is ready."

"Let's go," Rose said, turning and beckoning Jake with a finger before proceeding down the hall.

* * *

><p>The Motorcade carrying Rose and Jake speed down the road towards Capitol Hill with horns and lights blazing, it wasn't an uncommon sight in Washington D.C, and the people on the sidewalks were not at all fazed by it. Since the Terrorist Attack on Capitol Hill, things were beginning to return to normal. The symbol of the legislative power of the United States, The Capitol Building, was damaged, yes, but <em>one<em> side of it was damaged. That side, the side that contained House of Representatives Chamber, was in the process of being repaired and rebuilt. It was sectioned off while the contractors began their efforts. The good news was that the dome and the Senate side were completely untouched. It was in operation and that's where the confirmation hearing would take place.

* * *

><p><em>'My Mother is screwed up in the head<em>,' Alyssa Long-Sindacco thought wryly as she and the rest of family sat in the gallery section of the committee room, '_Why did she want to surprise us with them?'_

Alyssa turned and watched as her twin brothers, and little sisters talked with her Grandparents, Aunt and Uncle and Cousins. She didn't hate them, but they were strangers to her, to her they weren't family in her mind. It would take time, but she'd consider them the family they were eventually. When she turned to her right, she looked down to her little brother and noticed that DJ had the almost identical look of distain on his face. She leaned down closer to him, it was best that the rest of the family didn't hear her words. "I know they're family, but I think mom could have sprung this on us a little better then this."

"I know," DJ said looking over her to see everyone else chatting with them, he and Alyssa were the outcasts of the group, "But she has every right to, even if we like it or not. They're her family too, that's her brother, her sister, her father, her mother, her nieces and nephews. We have no choice and sooner or later we are going to be like everyone else. It would be best to bite our tongues and go along with it, because sooner or later it will fall into place. I know exactly what you are thinking, they're not one of us, and they're strangers. Let's face facts Alyssa, they're one of us, we're just not accustomed to them."

"No matter how much you two think that they're not one of us, you _are_ going to like them," Jake Long's stern voice came from behind them, Alyssa and DJ both gulped, almost comically and turned around to their father's stony glare, "Take all the time you want to get to know them and like them for real, but you will not act shitty to them, you will be polite, courteous and funny towards them. So long as you are around them, I expect you to use that bipolar trait you got from your mother. Or, so help me, I will string you two up until you are so red in the face that you'll want to like them just to get away from _me_."

DJ nodded his head, "Yeah, of course I will, I was out of line."

Alyssa, however, was less than obedient, "I am not a kid, and you can't tell me what to do!"

"You're half right," Jake snarled lowly at his first born, "You are not a kid physically, but you are _my_ kid and as _my_ kid you will do as I say until I am on my deathbed, are we clear _Alyssa Therese Long_?"

His rant towards his daughter was interrupted by someone clearing their throat, and DJ, Alyssa and Jake all turned to their right to see Robert Green, looking at them sheepishly, "I'm sorry, did I interrupt?"

Jake smiled and chuckled nervously, he never imagined what it would be like to have a father in law 120 Hours ago, but it was pretty damn terrifying now that he had one, "I'm sorry you had to hear that, they're just getting used to the idea of having Grandparents. They'll get used to it, and I'd like to cite the way my lovely daughter here first introduced herself to you as a way that don't act usually. Yeah, this is my eldest son DJ, and you've met Alyssa of course."

"Yeah, I'm …sorry about my first introduction," Alyssa smiled sheepishly and shook his outstretched hand, "You met my husband and my daughter?"

Robert nodded and smiled fondly at his granddaughter, "Yeah, they're great, your cousin Viviane is getting along with them great."

Jake, DJ and Alyssa loved over to their right and saw Liza and Johnny Sindacco chatting lively with Viviane Green. Alyssa's eyebrow rose in curiosity and then she turned back to her father, "She looks exactly like me, hell she looks exactly like mom, even more than I do, she could be the younger version of her. How is it that every single female in this family looks exactly like mom, I mean look at her… she's her twin!"

"Your Aunt Lillian," Jake supplied.

"Aunt Lillian, she's mom's twin!" Alyssa exclaimed

"There's Rachel and Liza who break that mold," DJ offered mildly with a shrug.

Alyssa rolled her eyes at her bother, "It's only the hair and the eyes, and it's only Liza's hair."

Robert chuckled and looked over to DJ and held his hand out for the young man to shake it. When DJ did, the older man smiled, "Your Grandmother told me what you told her."

"I was only being honest," DJ shrugged apologetically, "Sorry."

Jake looked at his son confused, "What did you say-…"

He couldn't finish his sentence because right when he was about too, the sound of a gavel banging came from the head of the room. Everyone looked up to see the committee members going to their appropriate places. The man at the head of the dais, who's name placard read '_Mr. Addison_' banged the gavel and began to speak into the microphone, "We are about to begin the final phase of the Confirmation Hearing of Secretary of Defense-Designate Rose Long, I would ask that the members of the media get behind their designated places and that the people in the gallery take their seats."

Jake scoffed in irritation and took his seat behind his son and daughter and watched for a moment as Robert turned and walked back to the other members of the group. He leaned forward and whispered menacingly in his son's ear, "Your Mom and I will talk to you later about this."

He leaned back in his chair and looked back up the dais, "Thank you – let the record show that all members of the committee are present, the Honorable Representative Addison of Ohio as Chairman. We are here to determine the viability of Secretary of Defense-Designate Rose Long to assume the full powers of the position and be officially sworn in as Defense Secretary. Will the clerk please usher Mrs. Long into the chamber?"

All of the heads in the room turned to the oak doors on the side of the chamber, and when they opened, Rose Long stepped out in all of her glory. She clutched the leather bound dossier in her hand and she walked with this sort of confident swagger that made the photographers take picture after picture of her. When she passed her family, she smirked and winked to them before turning her back to the gallery and her family and after setting the dossier down on the table that was below the dais, she raised her right hand, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

Rose nodded to Chairman Addison's oath, "I do."

"Good," He said picking up his gavel and banging it, "We can begin."

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note: I've put this under the T Rating <span>temporarily<span>, but I will be moving it up into M in time, because I'm going to try my hand at making things a little spicier. Warnings will be posted at the beginning of each chapter when that applies. So leave a review - we're at the very end my friends, let's enjoy it while it lasts. **


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 **

The room was quiet as Rose made her way to the table. That was perhaps because at that very moment, she was the most talked about woman in the world. It was an open secret that she was going to get this nomination, no matter how badly the questioning went, but Rose was completely prepared for it all. Whenever her record was called into question, she would retort with her interpretation of the event in question and tell them that they were wrong. The President had assured her that it wouldn't matter, they'd handle the media. She only had to go through the formality of a confirmation.

Pressing the on button of her microphone, she opened up the leather bound dossier and laid it in front of her. It contained the things that the Committee would press her about, looking up from it, she laced her hands and smiled up at them, "Ladies and Gentleman of the Committee: You have heard the testimony of my former employers and co-workers and bosses. You know that if I am confirmed, I will do everything in my power to see that the United States is defended and secure. Whenever I do something, I put my all into it and being the Defense Secretary will not be different."

"Thank you Mrs. Long," Chairman Addison nodded to her cordially once and picked up his papers, "Now, we understand that you are very busy and that's why we'll make this short. We only have two concerns after reviewing your case file with the CIA. The testimony that we heard yesterday was good enough to clear up all of our other concerns. Do you mind answering?"

Rose shrugged, "As long as the Committee respects the confidentiality mark on the file and you leave out the names of import persons, I don't mind."

The Chairman nodded and picked up the first paper and then he cleared his throat and looked to his left. His eyes landed on a brown haired woman, her name plate read Mrs. Wilson of California and Rose groaned. Every time that she was before one of these committees, she always had problems with the ultra-liberal members. The ones that were generally against the Military and Defense, not to mention the Intelligence Agencies, "Mrs. Wilson of California has a concern about three complaints filed on you while working with the CIA. The complaints claim that you arrested them without warrant."

"I would dare remind the honorable representative that if you look closely, that the three complainants were one, not United States citizens, two, handed down a title known as Enemy Combatant and three, expressed desire to destroy the Government of the United States," Rose reasoned, her voice was sharp and yet smooth, "Those three people that made the complaints against me are not afforded Habeas Corpus. You will also see that the last Congressional Investigation cleared the CIA and me personally."

The ripple of noise across the crowd was ignored by Rose and the committee ordered them to be quiet. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Representative Wilson shaking her head silently. Rose snorted inwardly '_Bitch…_' she reasoned, there was a purpose behind this complaints. It was to diminish the responsibilities of the CIA. Rose had spent the last twelve years of her life in the CIA and she'd be damned if some crackpot told her that was she doing was against Human Rights, "Right then, it appears that you are correct, very well then… we'll move onto the next matter."

* * *

><p>Rose sighed and smoothed down her skirt, they had taken a break for lunch and now it was time to move from one stressful situation to another. It took her a moment to wade through the crowd to find her family. Her entire fucking family, in one place, all together, and people hadn't been killed yet.<p>

When she saw her twin sons, Daemon and Michael arguing with each other, she knew it was only a matter of time. Sighing, she plastered a fake smile on her face and approached them. They all grew silent as she approached them, "So, how do you all think I did."

* * *

><p>He should have been there, sitting in that chair and answering questions from them. He had worked all of his life to get where he was and it was taken away from him in three days. Don't get him wrong, he hadn't planned on killing the last Defense Secretary or something like that, but he knew that his previous boss was planning to retire. He hadn't accounted on an attack on the Capitol Building while his boss was in there. He hadn't accounted on his boss getting killed, but when it happened, he did account of automatically getting chosen to succeed him.<p>

But then this blonde, admittedly incredibly attractive bitch had come in from nowhere and taken it from him. Something that he had been waiting for twenty years, and he wasn't one to take that on the chin. His name was Curtis Gannon, and he had and would be again the Assistant Secretary of Defense. In his cunning mind, he would be the Secretary of Defense very soon, as soon as he could get this woman out of the way.

He wouldn't kill her or have her killed, no, he'd run her out of office. He didn't bear her any ill will, she just didn't belong there. It would be a slow, but steady process. If only he could gain access to her files.

But then again, that was another problem.

When he went to get them, he found that he had been denied access to the files. They were restricted with_ level 10 _Clearance. That clearance only belonged to Generals, Admirals, Directors of Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies, Cabinet Secretaries, and the President. He couldn't even imagine what it looked like. But it did rouse his curiosity.

It was curious, _very_ curious, but it would not stop him at all.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

"Have you told your parents that you're pregnant?" Johnny asked quietly as he came to sit next to his wife. She had been in a terrible mood all day and when he realized that she had separated herself from the rest of the family, he knew that he was the only one who could viably approach her. Alyssa was so steamed that she didn't even come to greet her mother when she left the questioning area. Johnny promptly put a hand on her knee and, again, promptly had it slapped away, "I take it that you are in something of a mood dear?"

Alyssa scowled and then her face dissolved into face of regret, "I'm sorry, those are the hormones talking, you're completely right. No, I haven't told anyone, other than you and Liza, and for the moment, it's going to stay that way. Are we clear Jonathan Sindacco?"

"You're Pregnant?" DJ's shocked, but then again, hushed voice said from behind her.

Alyssa sighed and rubbed her forehead in annoyance, "Correction dear, other than you, Liza and DJ, it's going to stay that way. Yes I am DJ."

To the men in their family, it was a running theory that all of them women had this little demon inside of them that reared its head from time to time. Rose's was legendary and vicious, Erin's was, well it was psychotic, Jackie's could kill you with its eyes, Marissa's was silent most of them time, but when you got it going, watch out, but Alyssa's was another thing all together. Alyssa inherited her mother's legendary temper and was born with her father's temperament as a Dragon. When her little demon was agitated, she could rip your head off without the slightest thought. And she could also grab you by the collar of your shirt and threaten you, such as it was in this case.

Alyssa's hand shot out and grabbed her brother's shirt collar, then she proceeded to pull him to her, "If anyone who's name is that of a certain, pretty red flower or if anyone who happened to be the American Dragon before me finds out about this before I tell them, I'll know that it was you. You remember how I was when I was pregnant with Liza, I was evil, just imagine how I'll be during this pregnancy."

DJ pulled his self out of his sister's grip and sneered at her, "You don't scare me in the slightest bit Alyssa, and you need to tell them."

"Oh look at him Johnny," Alyssa mocked him with a pointed finger, "He's trying to be a little person! It's so cute. Besides, DJ, it's my baby, I'm not sixteen anymore, I don't have to tell them shit. I'll them when I'm ready, you don't have a say in what I do, or how I think, do you understand?"

Johnny scowled at his wife, "You don't have to tell your parents Lyss, but I can sure as hell tell my mother if I want to and I'm going to do it."

"You will not tell her, it will get back to my mother faster then-…" Alyssa was cut off by the sound of her mother's stern voice.

"What will get back to me?" Rose asked, her arms were crossed over her chest and she was glaring at Alyssa with suspicion.

"Nothing Mother," Alyssa scowled and returned the older woman's glare, "I'm a woman in my late thirties. I don't have to tell you a thing."

Rose suddenly smiled and then turned to her eldest son, it was that smile that said '_if you don't tell me, I won't be very kind to you' _that Rose had perfected over a lifetime. The former Huntsgirl raised a single eyebrow, "Is there something that you want to tell me dear?"

His face contorted into that of a deer in headlights, but he simply scratched the back of his head nervously, his tell, Rose noted mildly, and looked down to his feet. He brushed imaginary lint off of the sweater that he was wearing and spoke in a subdued voice, "I-..ah, you should ask Johnny."

The former Huntsgirl's face looked down to her son in-law and it quirked upwards in a knowing smile. She had found the weak point, or to put a spin on it, the reasonable one in their little secret keeping. It didn't take her long for her to formulate a plan to finally get this annoying little secret out in the open. If there was anything that bothered Rose more, it was her children keeping secrets from her and no matter how much stress she was feeling, she was going to get it out there and then. She put her hands on her hips and turned to Erin, who was currently chatting her sister Lillian. Rose smiled and held up a finger, beckoning her there, "Erin, I think I need your help with something, do you mind?"

Erin's upper lip quirked upwards in amusement before she broke off her conversation with Lillian and strutted over to them, she had an inclination of why Rose needed her. She put her hands on her hips and looked at her son. Since she had established a relationship with her son, she had been able to read him like a book and when he was looking down and avoiding her eyes, she knew that he was hiding something. Rose's next bit of information only served to further that, "It seems that our children are keeping something from me, now as I see it, Alyssa has threatened DJ into submission, but he gave Johnny away, who seems to be willing to say something, but he doesn't seem confident to tell me. But, I know that with you asking, he'll spill his guts, so do you mind turning on that motherly charm of yours to find out what my first born seems reluctant to tell me?"

"Sure," Erin said and kneeled down in front of her son, she reached up and began to rub Johnny's cheeks, "Honey, it would make me sad if you kept something from me, now if you don't want to see me cry, you'll tell me what you know. And if Alyssa threatens you because of it, she knows that I will not hesitate to put my foot in her behind. So what's the big secret?"

Johnny scowled and looked into his mother's vivid eyes, "Alyssa, she's-…uhm-…she's Pregnant."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Rose's eye widened at Johnny's words and then she proceeded to put her hands on her hips and give her eldest her best death glare. How dare she keep this a secret from the rest of the family? The nerve of that girl! But when the scared look came across her daughter's face, her anger melted and now she understood. Alyssa was scared to death of what a seventh kid meant. When faced with the possibility of having seven children, Rose herself would probably make a face like that too, Rose quickly sunk down to her haunches in front of her daughter, "Talk to me Alyssa."

"What's there to say? I'm pregnant, and it's scaring the hell out of me," Alyssa said, Rose sighed when Alyssa began to rub her stomach.

"Honey," Rose smiled and grasped her daughter's cheek, "I'm at my wits end right now with this whole new job thing and I'm a little too focused on that right now. Can you please go to your father and ask him for a reassuring lecture, I'm not kidding, I have no fucking time."

Alyssa grinned and nodded, "Thank you."

"You're welcome baby," Rose smiled and stood up and just before she was about to leave, Alyssa spoke up again.

"Mom, can I talk to you privately for a moment?" Alyssa questioned, strangely meekly.

Rose turned and raised a single eyebrow, "Is this really important Lyss, and I mean really important?"

Alyssa nodded and stood up from her chair before backing a little bit off from the curious onlookers that consisted of DJ, Erin and Johnny. She had been waiting a few days to approach her parents about this. A few nights ago, specifically when she told Liza that she was Pregnant, she had gotten up in the middle of the night. She opened up one of the guest rooms, the one that Rachel had been sleeping in and found that her baby sister wasn't even there. Rose had told her to watch Rachel, the second eldest Long Daughter had been developing something of a wild streak within her and she had a tendency to try and sneak out. Rose was usually able to catch her every single time, but when Rose wasn't there, Rachel was able to get away with it. That was why she needed to tell her mother, now, "So, what was so important that you wanted to talk about now?"

"Who's more available to deal out punishment to Rachel, your or Daddy?" Alyssa asked sheepishly.

What happened next truly scared the shit out of her, Rose took on the full blown Huntsgirl/Mom face, complete with death glare. She put her hands on her hips and glowered at her daughter, "I am, but I'll bring your father along to watch. What did she do?"

"Well, I got up in the middle of the night two nights ago and discovered the Rachel was out of her bed, I looked around the entire apartment and she wasn't in it, and my spare key was gone," Alyssa said quietly, "But here's the thing, when I got up in the morning, she was in her bed, with what looked like several hickey's on her neck, she was wearing makeup and my key was back. I think she snuck out and went to a party."

At this point, Rose was completely seething, "I'll deal with this, thank you for telling me."

Without sparing Alyssa a second glance, she spun on her heel to the other side of the galley. She was going to deal with this right now, no matter what the arena. On her warpath towards her second oldest daughter, she grabbed her unsuspecting Husband by the arm and dragged him with her to Rachel. The unsuspecting Long Daughter was talking with her niece Liza when her mother and father flew upon her. Grabbing her daughter by the ear, she motioned to Jake with her free hand and they left the Conference Room. When they were out in the heavily secluded hallway, Rose finally let go of her yelping daughter's ear and scowled at her, "Rachel Karen Long, you have got some serious explaining to do."

Jake put his hands on his hips, "What did she do?"

"When your daughter was staying at Alyssa's a few nights ago," Rose explained in a hushed voice, "She snuck out, and when Alyssa went to see if she had come back, she was in bed, with make up on and with several hickey's on her neck. Now, what are we going to do about this Rachel?"

Rachel looked down to her feet, "So you know?"

"Your damn right I know," Rose said, and then she turned to Jake, "Now, I'm busy, so you handle this. Don't fall for that shitty little, I'm your little girl routine, she is sneaking out and making out with god knows who and doing things that can seriously fuck up her life. Punish her thoroughly."

However, Jake said nothing. He simply nodded stonily and watched as his wife marched back into the conference room. He took in a few deep breaths and turned back to his daughter, "You blew it big time kiddo, the moment that we decide to extend just a little bit of trust in you and what do you do? You sneak out of your sister's apartment to go out and make out."

"Well it's not like you don't know the guy, it's Jordan-…" Rachel reasoned.

Jake sarcastically laughed, "Oh! Well that makes it so much better. You were out with the kid who I have a strange feeling is one day going to contaminate my gene pool. That makes it so much better Rachel, oh we're sorry. You can sneak out as long as it's going to meet that little shit."

"I'm sorry Dad," Rachel looked down to her feet, "I wasn't thinking."

"No you were not thinking kid," Jake sighed and looked back at the doors, "I know that you're not going to stop doing this if you simply tell me that you are. But I'm going to give you an ultimatum: either you stop doing this, or I'm going to pull you out of public school, put you into a Catholic School for girls and that will cut out the Jordan factor all together."

Rachel's eyes practically bugged out of her head, "We're not Catholic."

"I know, but I'm sure that they'll make an exception for you," He smirked before turning on his heel and back towards the conference room. That little maneuver was symbolic and he found that it worked with his children every time. After he handed down an ultimatum, he would end the conversation and that would appear as negotiations were closed.

"Wait!" Rachel cried.

Jake smirked to himself and turned back to his daughter, "What honey?"

"If I were to stop seeing Jordan and too try to get into line, especially now with Mom's new job," Rachel looked meek at the thought of being shipped off to Boarding School, "Will you stop thinking about private school?"

"Sure," Jake smiled, "And I'll be watching you, and remember if you sneak out one more time, I'll allow the Nuns to use rulers on you in math class."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This final installment is shaping up to be the family-oriented story that I had always wanted to end this series with. I hope that you'll stick around with it even though my plans with this series have become haphazard.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 **

"Mrs. Long," Chairman Addison said, "After a closed table deliberation, we have chosen to bring your nomination to a full vote to the House of Representatives at 11:30 PM tonight."

Rose nodded and looked down to her agenda. That was the number that the President had quoted to her when she was coaching Rose on these hearings. Clearing her throat, she put on a breezy look on her face, nothing at all to what she was feeling, and smiled up at the panel. For the next four years of her life, she knew that she would be here many times. One of the many duties of the Secretary of Defense was to report to Congress whenever something wrong militarily happened, it would be she who would take the bullet. She would have unimaginable resources at her disposable and as such she was expected to be in control and right at least 99 percent of the time. But for that one percent, she would be taken here and chewed out by Congress, "That sounds great, I look forward to hearing your decision."

* * *

><p>The Photographers outside of the Capital Building had been pushed back to the other side of the street. Thanks to the President's Martial Law powers that were still in effect, she had the right to control the areas that the Press where allowed to be. Ignoring the fact that the Press was taking dozens of pictures of her and her family, she led them down the marble steps to the motorcade of about twelve black Government SUV's that were on and waiting to take them to the White House. On top of the SUV's were the traditional red and blue lights that granted them the right to speed on the way to their destination, Motorcades always had them and Rose had to get used to the fact that she now got to travel around in them, everywhere. Even when she was in New York, all she had to do was make a call to the Federal Building and she'd have a motorcade at her disposal, "Mom, where are we going?"<p>

Rose turned back and smiled at DJ, "Well, we're going to go to the White House, you all are going to spend the day in the Residence and I'm going to be in a meeting with the President."

"D-do I get to meet the president?" DJ asked, that was a life long dream to the meet the President of the United States.

"Later on tonight you'll even get to have dinner with her," Rose said, "I told you, we'll be here all night, the President even wanted you all to spend the night."

DJ almost fainted, and he might have fallen down if it were not for his father who was closely behind him to help catch him.

* * *

><p>Since 1945, the capital of the United States, the most powerful Country on Earth, had been the driving force of shaping the 20th and 21st Centuries. Every Military Incursion, every dime spent, every power play made had en effect on someone else across the planet. For a good twenty year period, if a Government fell in one country or another and the country so happened to be in close proximity to US Interests, the fall of that Government was probably ordered by someone in Washington. The people in that town wielded<em> unimaginable<em> power to their international counterparts and no one more then the resident of 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue. The official residence of the President of the United States was one of the many things that stood out internationally as a symbol of America's power but also of its humble nature.

Unlike the Grand Palaces of other Presidents in other countries, the White House was that unique combination of power, beauty and humility. The only official residence of other World Leaders that even matched it with those three prerequisites was 10 Downing Street, the residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. But despite the White House's small stature, a ticket to the White House was a ticket into the inner sanctum of some of the most brilliant, smart and talented men to ever live. Rose and her family would be spending the rest of the entire day there today, seeing some things that ordinary people couldn't even imagine of seeing and there was a good possibility of them spending the night their tonight. Rose herself would be spending a lot of time there for the next four years in an important capacity.

As the twelve cars entered onto the curved driveway out the North Portico, Rose's breath caught. She had been lucky enough to catch the afternoon sun in the right position and the bright star served as a backdrop to the Presidential Mansion. She turned and looked at her son. His eyes were as wide as saucers. Rose snorted, she was glad that she insisted that DJ ride with her. She was sure that there was no one in the rest of the family that knew the significance of the place that they were about to enter, "So, are we going to be meet by the President, or are we going to the Oval Office?"

"She is going to meet us, and then you and the rest of the family will be escorted away to explore," Rose put the emphasis on the fact that the reason that they were there was because of her, "Got it?"

DJ nodded, "What will you all be discussing?"

Rose looked up the closed window between her and the driver and then smiled at her son, "Is our little confidentiality agreement still in place?"

"Of course," DJ nodded with a conspiratorial smile.

"Ok well," She smiled and leaned back into her seat, "The President is going to introduce me to her National Security Advisor, the new Secretary of State, brief me on Military Operations in China and around the rest of the world, and then she's going to give me the other half of the Nuclear Football."

DJ raised a single eyebrow, "One half of the Nuclear Launch Codes of the United State's Nuclear Arsenal in the hands of the former Huntsgirl? I'm scared."

"Be afraid child," Rose teased as the steps of the North Entrance of the White House came into view, "Very Afraid."

* * *

><p>Jennie Eggert waited at the top of the steps with her hands behind her back as the Motorcade bringing the next Secretary of Defense stopped at the very center of the ornate steps. In all other instances, this was the backdoor to the White House. This was for a quick entrance by Senior Government Officials and their aides. But on January 20th of every four years, this was where one President meet the new one and where they discussed matters that only Presidents knew. Jennie hopped that in two years, she'd be coming through this entrance on January 20th on the precipice of a Presidential Term that she earned. It took her awhile to get back to the matter at hand as the doors to the Motorcade opened and the very large family began to emerge. Her eyes widened, she had pretty much ordered Rose to allow her family to spend the night here at the White House, and now she knew how much company she'd be having tonight. It had been a long time since she had seen children in the White House.<p>

Taking on a relaxed posture, she watched as Rose and her family ascended the steps, "Secretary Long, it's very good to see you survived your confirmation hearings."

"I'm not Secretary yet Madam President," Rose smiled as her family seemed to surround her, "But I guess I have to get used to it, Madam President, you remember my husband."

Jennie smiled and shook Jake's outstretched hand, "How are you doing Mr. Long?"

"I have my hands full here, trying to keep all internal stress off of the Secretary-Designate here," Jake smiled he motioned to his children.

She smiled and looked out over the practical sea of Long Children, "Is this your first time seeing the White House, other then on Television and Books?"

There was a unanimous shake of the head and from the older people as President Eggert smiled and put her hands on her hips, "Well then, I've arranged a special tour, for you all while I'm in my meeting with Rose here, it'll take you to places that the public isn't allowed to go. You'll get a tour of the West Wing, The East Wing, the second and third floor, the basement, the Situation Room and the basement. Then you'll be taken back up the third floor residence to the special area that I've had set up to watch tonight's vote. I want to make this incredibly memorable for you all."

* * *

><p>Rose never imagined that she'd ever be in the Oval Office in her life, but here she was, and not as an ordinary person. She was about to become the Secretary of Defense and then if finally hit Rose that she was permitted to accesses this room with ease. She would be one of the President's Advisers and she'd be the boss of the Pentagon. It all seemed to hit her as she took a seat in front of the Resolute Desk and folded her hands in her lap, "So how did the Hearings really go, behind your public face, what were you thinking when Addison and all of the others were questioning you?"<p>

"I had no problems with Addison," Rose reported, "Thought most of the members on that committee annoy me in one way or the other, but I'm pretty good and putting on a benevolent face aren't I?"

"You'd make one hell of a President," Jennie mused before she picked up a large, black thick rectangular case, "Now to the cut throat business, I know that you haven't been confirmed yet by the House, and technically I'm not allowed to hand over this information to you until you are DOD Secretary. But I've moved enough weight around to insure your confirmation. So I'm going to do it, now, in this case is one half of the Nuclear Access Codes to our Arsenal. You know how the Football is designed. We have two sets of codes for each missile in the arsenal. One set is kept with me, the other with DOD Secretary. That way if one of these were ever stolen, the thieves wouldn't be able to access our Missiles. After you're sworn in tonight, you will be required to take this to Pentagon and lock it in the safe in your office. And you never, ever take it out without my express verbal and written consent. I know you're good at obeying orders and procedure, so it's important that you realize that specific rule is the most important."

Rose nodded, "Don't worry, I'll put it out of my mind."

"That would be best," President Eggert nodded, "Now that that's out of that way, we get to the easier side of your new job."

Reaching for the speaker function on the phone on her desk, she pressed the button and pressed the speed dial for her Chief of Staff Carmen Hollingsworth, whose desk was right outside the door. Smiling up at Rose, she listened closely as Carmen picked up on the other end, "What can I do for you Madam President?"

"Can you send in Assistant Secretary of Defense Gannon," President Eggert smiled when Rose's eyebrows raised in confusion, "It's time that he meet his new boss."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"I think this is the time to tell you all," Alyssa said nervously, they were all having drinks out on the Truman Balcony, which was something that she thought she would never even think, "It's going to come out eventually when I tell my kids so I might as well tell you all. Are you ready for it? Because it's the sort of news that make the bottom drop out of you."

Erin raised an eyebrow, "What else could possibly happen to you?"

"I'm pregnant," Alyssa said and the preverbal pin in the room dropped.

There was a look of shock on all of their faces. Why were they so dropped, this wasn't her first child and she wasn't a fucking teenager anymore, she was a grown woman, she was in her mid thirties for godsake. Folding her arms around her chest, she sneered, "What? I'm grown, I'm not sixteen anymore and I've had kids before, this is nothing that shameful?"

"What do you mean, you're not sixteen anymore?" Robert Green asked.

DJ sighed and leaned back in his chair, "She was a pregnant teenager."

Caroline's eye widened, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

"Thank you, but you have nothing to be sorry about. I was given the best thing that ever happened to me," Alyssa shrugged and walked back over to her chair that was next to her husband. Crossed her legs, she smirked at her mother's family, "You should ask you other daughter what the circumstances of my birth and conception were, they're similar."

"You just don't know when to be quiet do you?" Jake Long said from the entrance of the balcony.

Alyssa looked over at her father, "Well there they are talking to me as if I was a little skank who went out and got pregnant and sixteen. Before they make judgments on me, they should be looking at her. She got pregnant when she was a teenager and she was only a year older then I was. I'm sorry that we were didn't turn out to be lawyers and politicians. I'm sorry our side of the family decided to go into occupations that need to carry guns in. We're not perfect."

Jake shook his head, "I'm sorry, she has her mother's temper."

"I'm not offended, I'm the same way," Viviane looked up to Jake, "…U-Uncle Jake."

He patted her shoulder, "Thank you dear, and as for you Alyssa. Thank you for letting the cat out of the bag. And what led to this whole discussion about your conception?"

"She's pregnant Jake," Erin interrupted him, "We're going to be Grandparents again."

A warm smile came over Jake's face as he came to his daughter and leaned down to hug her. Alyssa, when she was pregnant, made her into a complete clone of her mother when she was pregnant. She was moody, she had to pee every fifteen minutes, she was in the bathroom for the rest of the time vomiting, she never ate dairy while pregnant and most of all she was very hormonal. When Alyssa hugged him back, he smiled down at her, "Are you two okay with this, do you need any help."

Johnny and Alyssa shook his head, "John's got a job now thanks to Mom and we don't have any finical problems. We were thinking about moving out of the city as it was."

"Us too," Jake said and turned to walk to his empty chair, "But no luck so far."

"Wait a minute," Robert insisted on coming into the conversation now, Rose's kids might not like them or might feel uncomfortable around them, but he was Rose's father and he felt as if he had a right to at least get a picture of the life of the daughter that he never knew, "You need to tell me this entire story."

"It's something for Rose to tell you," Jake shrugged, "I don't even know the entire story and I've been with her for a total of over twenty years. There are a few things that she hasn't told us, I know that fact is certain. I know she was the Huntsgirl since she was an infant. She was cop for fifteen years, she was the only woman in the history of the LAPD to ever be promoted to Detective five years after getting out of the Police Academy, she didn't work for a long time there and then she joined the CIA. That's all I can really tell you, once again, it's up to her to tell you."

Viviane nodded, "Did she ever make to Senior Detective?"

"Oh here we go with the Ivy League Law Degree squad," Alyssa scoffed.

Viviane turned and glared at Alyssa, it was odd. It was like looking into a mirror. Besides the fact that they had different eye colors and the fact that Alyssa was far older, they were identical, "I don't like to be spoken to like that _cousin_. You are lucky that you're pregnant because those are fight-…"

"Oh spare me, we've heard them all with my mother as a mother," Alyssa scoffed and everyone but the rest of the Greens all groaned in their heads, in their minds, it was as if Viviane was a Weiner Dog and Alyssa was a Pit bull, "I could knock your teeth out and not get a scratch on my knuckles, and your insignificant little threats are nothing compared to that of Mrs. Rose Long. I'm way out of your fighting league, so don't even try."

DJ raised an eyebrow from his sister's side, "So am I."

Viviane turned DJ, "What could you possibly intimidate?"

DJ smiled and pulled back his sleeve around his right wrist, he showed them the Mark of the Huntsclan and smirked inwardly at the sight of their shocked expressions. Apparently they hadn't been told of the family's dominate heredity trait. The Dragon Chi in the family skipped some children in the family and the ones that didn't get it got the mark. Half of Alyssa's children got the Mark, Johnny had it, Marissa had it, Erin had it, Jackie had it, he had it and his mother had it, that's why it was the dominate gene. They would soon learn, if they didn't shut the fuck up, that it meant more than just a Tattoo, "Grandma and Grandpa over there should know what it means, it means that we have abilities that make us a hundred more times intimidating then we appear outwardly. And don't threaten my sister again."

"Oh yeah, and what are you going to do about it?" Viviane growled at him.

"I'll shove my foot up your behind," Marissa commented from DJ's side.

"And I'll tear you up if you come anywhere near my baby brother," Alyssa sneered at her cousin. She knew that this was going to happen. Sure, she had instigated this little fight, but she was getting it out of the way for when it really began, "I'm a good judge of character and seeing people for what they are and that's why I don't like most of them. And I don't like you."

"Dido," Viviane sneered.

"Enough," Jake shouted, he had just about enough of this, he saw the exasperated looks on Rose's parents faces and the disappointed looks on her siblings and nephews. Not to mention it was basically his two eldest children threatening to kill their cousin, "I want you guys to shut the hell up, this is neither the time nor the place to kill each other, if you want to do that, you can wait until we get back to New York. But until then, shut up and play nice and don't embarrass us."

"Daddy, this little-…," Alyssa hesitated when she looked at her Grandparents face, "…_Witch_ is barking up the wrong tree with her pissy little threats."

"Alyssa Therese Long-Sindacco," Jake pointed a finger at her. He rarely used her entire name and when he did it, it meant that he was profoundly pissed off at her. This was now the second time that he had used it within the last three hours, it was a safe bet that Alyssa really needed to cool her jets before something bad happened, "Shut your mouth now, understand?"

Folding her arms over her chest, she rolled her eyes, "Yes Daddy."

* * *

><p>She was even more striking then she was on television and that was saying a lot. Her smile, her eyes, her looks, they were not those that one would traditionally think of belonging to the Secretary of Defense. When they shook hands, he almost regretted the fact that he was aiming to drive her out of the position that she was about to go in, "I'm Curtis Gannon, I'm going to be your right had for the foreseeable future Madam Secretary."<p>

"Oh please," Rose smiled, "Call me Rose."

"Alright then Rose," Curtis nodded and turned to smile at the President.

The relationship between Curtis Gannon and Jennie Eggert was incredibly complicated. You see, they were both elected to serve in congress the same year and they had risen up the ranks together in that time. When she was Majority Leader of the House, he was the Majority Whip. And for a time, he and Jennie had engaged in a romantic escapade.

This was before Jennie had gotten married and had her children, but for the sake of both of their careers, they had decided to keep it a secret. But burying it didn't prevent the awkwardness settling in, even thirty years later, "Jennie, I have had a chance to speak with you since you took over."

"I know, I've been busy," Jennie smiled kindly at him, "I've been securing enough votes for Rose's confirmation to make it incredibly lopsided to give the public the image of unity. Right now it appears that the entire majority will vote for Rose and thirty five members of the minority will not do it."

Rose ran her hand through her hair, "What does that equal out to?"

"That would be 383-52," Jennie calculated the number in her head as she leaned back in her chair, "Luckily, the House has been able to reconstitute itself to full strength in the last few days with temporary members to serve out the rest of the murdered member's terms. The Senate should be back up and running within the month, the house will have to pick up the slack."

Curtis nodded with a smile, "Well if there is anyone who will be able to make sure the Government runs smoothly, it would be you Jen."

Rose narrowed her eyes as Curtis pulled his cell phone from his pocket and looked at it. His eyes widened and he looked to Rose and then to the President with hesitation, "I'm so sorry, I have to get back to the Pentagon, I totally came here forgetting I had this meeting, do this tomorrow?"

Jennie nodded, "Yes, it'll be legal in the morning anyway."

"Thanks Jen," Curtis stood up and nodded to his bosses, "Tomorrow ladies."

When Rose was sure that Curtis was safely out of the office, she sat back down in the chair and looked over at the President who was looking down in her lap with a look of embarrassment. Her cheeks were red and she looked flushed. Strange, those were all the classic signs of…

"Madam President please forgive me for asking, but with the way that you two were looking at each other, did you and Curtis ever-…" She asked and made a vague motion with her hand to substitute for the obvious.

Jennie nodded, "Long time ago, before I got married. We'll pick up this tomorrow, now I want you to get relaxed, go change some clothes and enjoy your time here, I've got a few phonecalls to make and I'll be out there to join you all later on. Go one, I'm ordering you relax a little bit."

"Where's my bedroom?" Rose asked with a curious grin.

"The Lincoln Bedroom," Jennie laughed.

When Rose turned she grinned, the_ Lincoln Bedroom_.

How ironic.

* * *

><p>"Come on Michael," Daemon urged as they stood at the top of the Grand Staircase that led down into the Stateroom. They had bet each other a month's worth of chores that they could slide down the banister of the Staircase without being caught. Michael climbed onto the banister and straddled it and he fully intended on doing it, if <em>she<em> hadn't been there.

"Michael Long," Rose warned, "If you or your brother slide down this banister, I will not only punish you, but whatever you break when you side off of the banister, I will pay for it with the money I get from selling you."

Daemon and Michael chuckled as their mother walked up the staircase and affectionately ruffled their heads, "That was a really creative one Mom."

"What are you two little boils doing?" Rose asked with a grin.

"There's nothing to do here, we're bored," Michael answered for them.

Rose raised an eyebrow, "You can talk to your Grandparents and cousins."

"After what happened with them, I don't want to speak with them," Daemon stuck his nose up in the air, "That Viviane is a butthead, she talked to DJ and Alyssa as if they were beneath her. Then they all started to fight."

Rose sighed, "Who started it?"

"Well no one really," Michael asked.

"But Viviane and Alyssa started to throw one liners back and forth, then Viviane told her that she didn't like to be spoken to like that and that she was lucky that she was Pregnant and then Alyssa nuked her," Daemon laughed enthusiastically, "Then DJ started to fire shots at her and then she threatened DJ and then Marissa and Alyssa nuked her again until Dad told them to shut up."

Rose rubbed her forehead and then she knew what she needed to do. Sure it was the wrong way to start out a relationship, but you did not threaten her children. Rose should have just tattooed it on Alyssa, DJ, Rachel, Daemon, Michael and Kailey's foreheads when they were all born: _If any threats are made against these people, their mother will kill you viciously. _

But in this case, it would be a warning.

"Oh and Mom," Michael added, "Alyssa told them about you getting pregnant with her when your seventeen."

"Oh great," Rose slapped her sides, "Why didn't she just tell them when that I was drunk when it happened."

"You were drunk?" Daemon's eyes widened.

"…no," Rose covered and looked at their smirking faces.

Rolling her eyes, she reached pocket that was on the front of her blazer and to the roll of cash that she kept in there. She had left her purse in the hotel room and this was the only way that she could carry her cash without having to lug her purse around. Pulling out to fifty dollar bills she put the role of cash back into her pocket and handed them each a bill.

When they put the bills into their pockets they still looked smug.

"That'll keep you're mouths shut?" Rose raised an eyebrow.

"And a raise in our allowances?" Daemon raised his eyebrow in return.

"Alright," Rose nodded, "How much?"

"We want-…," Daemon turned and quietly conversed with his brother.

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes, they were brilliant little extortionists. She wondered where they got it from. '_Oh_,' she realized with a smug little grin to herself, '_That's right, me_.', their father was one of those do-gooders. When they turned to face her, she raised an eyebrow, "What's your price?"

"We want our allowances every Friday instead of every other Friday and we want a twenty dollar increase from now on," Daemon said.

Kailey, Michael and Daemon's allowances were $10 Dollars every other week. DJ and Rachel's were $30 and every week, it was the seniority system that she and Jake ran their lives by. Such as the fact that Rose was senior to Jake, much to her delight and Jake's ire, but it worked. But these little bandits were not going to railroad her into paying them what she paid her older children, "Shelling out $130 Dollars every week to buy your silences? I don't think so guys, you'll have to sweeten the pot for me."

"Alright," Daemon smirked, "We're going to go talk to our Grandparents, and perhaps we'll tell them a few juicy secrets about you and Dad-…"

"Oh alright," Rose sighed, "But can't you come down off of that price?"

"Alright $15 a week, for me," Michael smiled adoringly at her mother.

Rose smiled and patted Michael on the head, "Thanks darling, they'll be a little extra something in your paycheck this week. Now, scat you two."

* * *

><p>"Rose," Jake's eyes widened, "You're meetings over."<p>

She nodded and she didn't even acknowledge the presence of her children and friends and merely stared down her niece. The stupid little girl was staring right back at her. Maybe her courage was hereditary in the females of her family? Oh, she'd teach this girl a lesson that she would never forget, "Yeah, I have nothing to do until the vote tonight. Here's an idea, it just came to me! How about you take Erin, Marissa and Johnny and make sure that our kids aren't destroying the President's House. DJ, Alyssa and I are going to have a little chat with the lovely people right here."

"Who told you?" Jake asked as he, Erin, Marissa and Johnny stood up.

"The two little brides trying to slide down the banister of the Grand State Staircase and break their necks in the process. By the way, don't let them do it, or you're paying for whatever they break," She told her husband, not taking her eyes off of Viviane who hadn't begun to crack, "Run along dear."

When Erin, Marissa, Jake and Johnny all departed from the Truman Balcony, Rose finally broke her eye contact with Viviane and went to sit down were Jake was sitting, next to her father. Crossing her arms over her chest, she knew that they were all waiting for her to speak. She looked up to Viviane and for good measure Peter and Jackson as well, "Alright, listen up kids. This is what I would like to call, _Intro to Aunt Rose_. The preface to this class is made up of one rule. YOU DO NOT THREATEN MY KIDS! Side effects of doing this will result in you having your ass whipped, _got that_?"

"Second lesson," She turned to Alyssa and met her daughters startled and stubborn face, "DO NOT TELL THEM THINGS ABOUT ME THAT I DON'T WANT THEM TO KNOW ABOUT, you've been enrolled in this school for thirty years, I would have thought that you would have learned that by now. I've only been yelling at you about it for the past fifteen years. Now, third lesson."

She turned back to Viviane, "It's so cute that you thought you could kick my kid's asses, they could kick yours handcuffed, shackled and blinded."

DJ and Alyssa smiled at their mother, Alyssa smirked, "Love you Mom."

"You taught us everything we knew," DJ nodded with a grin.

"You two are psychotic," Viviane shouted indignantly.

"We prefer to think of it as it's our world, you're just living in it," DJ responded to her with a sweetly sarcastic smile, "A bit like a worth ethic."

"Similar to yours Dad, that's where they get it from I suppose," Rose smiled to her father who in turned offered Rose an amused smile, "Ok, now that's over, we understand that Viviane doesn't like DJ and Alyssa and vice-versa. You'll get over it, they're an acquired taste as it is."

"Rose, please don't kick my daughters ass, she has a mouth," Bobby said.

She chuckled, "It's either your ass or hers."

"Try me big sister," He smiled at her.

"Oh please, I used to fight giant magical reptiles ten times as bigger then you, I've took down drug, child and gun smuggling rings, I used to be a spy until last week and I've given birth to six children, all naturally," Rose reveled in the fact that she had gone through all of that and wasn't even winged by it, "I think I can take a forty year old lawyer, what do you think?"

"You suck," Bobby folded his arms over his chest.

Lillian smiled, "I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship."

* * *

><p><strong>11:57 AM<strong>

"The question on the table is that of the confirmation of Secretary-Designate Rose Long to the position as Secretary of Defense," The Speaker of the House tapped his gavel as the House Members settled down, "The House will come to order, the Speaker now recognizes Leader Claire in support of the confirmation, and Leader Gates will represent the opposition to the confirmation if there is any opposition to begin with."

Leader Gates, the new Minority Leader rose from his seat and to the microphone on his side of the chamber. They were using the Senate Chamber to conduct business at the moment and when the Senate came back into session, the House meetings would be moved to another location until the House Chamber could be repaired. It would take at least a year to repair it. But no one was focused on that aspect at the moment, they were more focused on getting through his confirmation, "At this time, I would like to submit to the House that the current block of votes that oppose the confirmation of Secretary-Designate Rose Long stands at 42 and that we cannot mount enough votes to issue a rejection vote. That being said, I move to table debate and move directly to a vote by electronic device."

The Speaker nodded and turned to face Leader Claire on the other side of the chamber. This was going against the rules of the house, but they were operating without a Senate that normally did this, so they were making it up as they went along. Normally, there were only 100 Votes to decide nominations for Cabinet Secretaries, but in this case there were 435. The galleries were filled to the brim with House Members and with the floor only being able to hold 100 Members. There was just enough space to fit them all. Vote Devices had been placed throughout the Chamber, making vote a little easier, so for all intents and purposes they had successfully set up shop in the Senate Chamber. But only time would tell if they would be able to function properly in such a foreign environment, "I concur with Leader Gates, I move to a vote by electronic device."

"Very well," The Speaker tapped his gavel, "This is a ten minute vote, members will record their vote by electronic device."

A mile and a half away, President Eggert folded her arms over her chest as the television broadcast brought up a screen that showed the tallies of the votes being cast. Immediately there were 57 Votes in favor of her and that was a great sign. She turned and smiled at the curious on-lookers packed into her office. Rose and her family had been crammed into the Oval Office to watch the vote, there was food and drinks and it was the begging's of a little party that would go on in about nine minutes and thirty two seconds, "What's going to happen now?"

"Well, when they tally the vote, they'll send me the word that they've confirmed you and it'll be my duty to swear you in," Jennie smiled as she went to her desk. Pressing the intercom button on the desk phone, she was in contact with her secretary, "Can you get a photographer in here and as well bring me a bible. Also, can you get Paul Butler out of bed and tell him to start writing up a statement about the confirmation."

"Yes Madam President," The Secretary affirmed and with that, Jennie walked across to stand behind her desk and open up the front door. Inside the top left hand drawer was a black leather bound dossier and a set of keys. The Dossier was a complete list of Military Facilities and Bases in the entire world and their compliments of troops and armaments and there were three keys on the chain. One was to the Secure Records Depository in the bowls of the Pentagon, the second one was the master key to all doors in the Pentagon and the third was to her office. Pulling them out of the drawer, she shut it with her free hand and approached Rose, who was sitting on the couch and watching the votes take place.

"I'll swear you in and while that's happening the Photographer will take a picture," She smiled as she handed the dossier and the keys to Rose, "I'll recite to you the oath, Jake here will have to hold the bible while you place your left hand on the bible and raise your right hand and repeat the oath. We'll release the photograph and a statement confirming that you've been sworn in and you'll go to sleep and get up for work tomorrow."

* * *

><p><strong>12:01 AM<strong>

"With 393 in favor of the confirmation and 42 not in favor, Rose Long is hereby confirmed as Secretary of the Defense Department of the United States," The Speaker set the note down from one of the rostrum tellers that had calculated the vote, "Let the House clerk inform the White House that they now have legal permission to swear Mrs. Long in as Secretary."

President Eggert turned the television off with the remote and set it down on the table as she was given the bible from her chief of staff. Handing it to Jake, she turned and made sure that the photographer was in place to snap a few photographs during the swearing in ceremony. The photographer had positioned them in front of the fireplace. Jake was between them holding the bible and Rose was now standing with an anxiousness to her movements.

"Agent Long are prepared to take the Oath?" President Eggert asked.

Rose nodded and watched as the camera from the photographer started to click, "I am ready to take the Oath Madam President."

"Good," Jennie nodded once and raised her right hand, "If you would please raise your right hand, put your left hand on the bible and repeat after me."

Rose raised her right hand and she had to suppress a smile when she felt Jake smile. Jennie recited the Oath that she had known my heart for two and a half decades, "I, Rose Long, do solemnly swear that I support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion."

"I, Rose Long, do solemnly swear that I support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion." Rose said, luckily she had an uncanny ability to remember long drawn out things and this wouldn't be the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to her in her life.

"And that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I'm about to enter," Jennie said, "So help me god."

"And that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of that office on which I am about to enter, so help me god," Rose repeated and lowered her hand.

Jennie extended her hand and when Rose grasped it, she shook it with a feeling of immeasurable pride at her choice for Defense Secretary.

"Congratulations… Madam Secretary."

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note: The Next Chapter will throw things into full swing in only this story series can. There will be a bit of a time jump though, I want you to understand that before we move on so you're not confused**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 **

**2 Years Later…**

"This is going to be the hardest week of my life," Rose Long commented as her husband started the car. It just so happened that in the same week, her son was graduating from High School, President Eggert was going to be inaugurated as President and she had to deal with DJ's CIA Entrance.

Especially the little fact that one of the conditions for DJ joining the agency was that she had to train him personally. She couldn't do that while simultaneously performing her duties as Secretary of Defense. Rose didn't want to leave the Department, even temporarily. She didn't trust her Assistant Secretary of Defense with the head job for a few months, hell she would trust him to go to the store and buy milk. Rose would need at least a minimum of two months to train DJ effectively to be a decent CIA Agent.

"Look dearest," Jake retorted with a bit of a laugh of the name that he had given her, "We're going to DJ's High School Graduation right now, two kids down, four to go. We're going to a Presidential Inauguration and we're taking DJ and Alex who love that shit, so there's another plus and our eldest son is following in your footsteps. So what if it's all in one week? You were pregnant with Alyssa for nine months will still being the Huntsgirl."

"Well then I could just snap the neck of a low level Hunter if I was angry or moody then, but I can't do that now as Defense Secretary and as for DJ Graduating High School, it's not like I can kill his teachers for not failing him, he's a bright kid and I knew that this day was coming eventually, but it's not like I have to enjoy it," Rose sighed, that's where they were going to DJ's Graduation Ceremony. He and the other kids who were graduating early were having a separate ceremony at DJ's Private School, "He's my little boy Jake, and he's turning 18 at the first of the month and I can't stand it that I have to let him go. Let alone that he's following my career choices."

Jake smiled fondly, "I know Rose and I think that you forget sometimes that he's my son too. But we've given him more than enough teaching and advice and opportunities to go out and _literally_ become what he wants to be. I can't say that I'm not disappointed that he choose not to go to College, but I know that he's smart enough that he really doesn't need College, we have to ask him advice on our Income Taxes for godsakes. He'll do fine baby."

"I'm just going to miss having him around the house every day," Rose said.

"Rose," Jake snorted, "We see Alyssa every day, we torture her as if she's still living with us and we rile up her kids and then leave so Alyssa has to deal with their crazy asses, we'll get to do the same thing with DJ."

"Not if he goes undercover in some hostile country whose main prerogative is to kill him," Jake's eyes widened as he noticed his wife's fists clench at those words, "Oh, I've killed people before and I've brought down a lot of things in my life, but if my son joins the CIA and get's killed by the orders of some Government, you'll see me bring down an entire country to its knees."

Jake snorted as they finally approached the exit of the garage, "Some prick in a Foreign Government orders my son's death? You'll have to pull me off of him. But don't worry Rose, he is his mother's son, you taught him literally _every single thing_ that you know about killing people and keeping himself alive, what are the odds that he's going to let himself get killed?"

"I guess you're right," Rose nodded and when they pulled out of the parking garage, they were joined by two black SUV's with flashing red and blue lights at the top of them, one in front, the other in back, "You know, being in a motorcade and not having to go through traffic is one of the perks that I enjoy as being DOD Secretary. I've never asked you about your opinion."

Jake chuckled, "It makes us look damned important, I love it."

Rose laughed, "Perhaps this week won't be so bad after all."

* * *

><p>"Madam Secretary," Principle Sheffield, DJ's Principle said as she shook Rose's hand as if she was meeting fucking royalty, "This bestows an honor upon me that is unparalleled in my life, we only see your husband here."<p>

Rose's shared an amused glance with her husband, "Ok, well, I'll be sure to stop by here more often, my two other sons will be joining you this next school year and I think you'll be changing your apparent worship of me."

The Principle raised one of her finely trimmed eyebrows, "Are they wild?"

"Let's just say that I'll be sending you a checks for the damage and perhaps a bribe to keep you from expelling them," Rose chuckled inwardly as the woman's face turned a steady gray, she loved her public position, people didn't dare insult or demean her back, "I think I will be seeing you."

The other woman dissolved into a chuckle, "I'll certainly miss DJ here."

"I know," Rose smiled and she was hit with luck when she saw her mother, Caroline and her daughter Alyssa enter the gymnasium. She could finally get out of this trap of a conversation, "Principal Sheffield, my mother and my daughter are here. Can we talk another time perhaps?"

The Principal nodded with a smile, "Of course we can."

When the other woman finally tore away from them, Rose turned to Jake with a serious look on her face, "Remind me, first thing, get a restraining order against that woman, she's the principle of a private school and she teaches the kids of celebrities, but she meets me and I honor her with my presence."

* * *

><p>"Send the kids to Cresthill if you're going to put them in Private Schools," Rose told her daughter as they took their seats in front of the stage in the courtyard in the middle of the school grounds, "The Principal need here need to be committed and she needs to be electro shocked every day."<p>

Alyssa laughed and looked at the program that she had given upon their entrance, "I talked with Johnny about moving the kids into Private Schools, I don't think that they're getting a good enough education in public. So are you recommending that we put them all in Cresthill?"

"Well this crazy bitch will make the kids in ceramics make a solid statue of me," Rose snickered as her mother finally came back from the bathroom. Rose leaned over and kissed her mother on the cheek, "How was your drive down here Mama?"

"Hell," Caroline asked, wryly, "Robert better enjoy being sick, because it's the only thing that's going to keep me from killing him."

"And yet we have to sit through this spectacle of them giving a diploma to a seventeen year old with the IQ of 242," Alyssa shook her head with a wry smile, "What is that Grandma? A genius, super genius, or a super genius that has ambitions to take over the world and can actually do it?"

Caroline raised her eyebrow, "I'd say super genius."

"You see that Rose," Jake said as leaned over his daughter and his wife and kissed his mother in-law on the cheek, "He's going to be a super genius."

"Empty Nest Syndrome?" Caroline asked.

"Oh please, the Nest is far from empty," Alyssa answered, "Mom is just upset that her precious little boy is finally getting out of the house. I mean for god sakes, when I and Johnny moved out, they converted my bedroom into a shrine for him, it's still there today."

"He was a year old," Rose reasoned.

"Well it still felt pretty crappy, you guys were shunting me aside for a screaming, crapping, vomiting, blood sucking little vampire," Alyssa fumed to herself.

"You had one of those yourself, it's not like you didn't do the same thing with him, I'm his Grandmother and I saw his room when he was one. So don't sit there and tell me that it's going to upset you a little bit when Brian move out of the house when he graduates in June," Rose said with a motion of her hands to the stage, "So pipe it, you never graduated High School."

Caroline raised an eyebrow and Jake merely rubbed his forehead in embarrassment. That was a little secret that had stayed between Rose, Jake, Johnny and Alyssa. None of Jake and Rose's other children, Erin, Jackie, Marissa, or Alyssa's children knew that fact. Alyssa didn't attend her last year of High School due to the fact that she was Pregnant and by the time it came time when she could leave her child, she decided that it was no use going back. The little secret had now just been blown and to Caroline no less, "Mother, I thought that was going to stay between us."

"Well here you are bashing a High School Graduation, when you yourself never had one," Rose shook her head irritably, "So, what do you have-…"

"You are so high and fucking mighty, you didn't either!" Alyssa sneered.

Rose's eyes screwed up in her head, oh if there were any of her children that she had an active desire to reach out and strangle, it would be her clone in all senses of the word, negating her eyes. It was true, but Alyssa didn't need to fucking shout it to a room full of people and she was sure that there were members of the Press in the room as well, "You shut your mouth now!"

"You just shouted the fact that I didn't graduate to the room too, what is it with you! You are just a cold, vindictive, evil witch," Alyssa seethed.

"That's it," Jake said from beside his wife, and in three fluid motions, he stood up, gripped his wife's sides, picked up her and dropped her in the seat that he was previously in. Setting himself down in Rose's seat, he put his arms over his chest and frowned, "You two shouldn't be in the same room together, now shut up, both of you and pretend to happy, normal people."

* * *

><p>Marissa Behrens raised her sunglasses up as she power walked into the courtyard. She had about fifteen minutes before the ceremony was set to start. She had spent the last hour getting her hair and makeup ready for this. She had told DJ that she might not have been able to even come to this, but she had managed to get some time off in the office that she worked in to attend his High School Graduation, "Sorry I'm late, traffic."<p>

"I didn't know that you were coming," Rose said as she stood up and hugged the girl lightly, "And you're not late at all, we still got about fifteen minutes."

"And I'm about to murder either my wife or daughter, which one do you think I should kill Marissa?" Jake asked wryly, in between the two said women.

Marissa put her finger to her chin to mockingly contemplate the question posed to her, "Gee, I wonder, who does DJ hate the most?... Alyssa."

Jake turned to his daughter and smiled, "That can be arranged."

Alyssa stuck her tongue out at her father before turning back to study her program.

As Marissa made her way to sit in the empty seat next to Rose, Rose herself was tapped on the shoulder. She jumped slightly in surprise and when she found one her aides there with a cell phone in his hand, she raised an eyebrow, "Care to tell me who's calling, I said no phonecalls?"

"Madam Secretary, it's the President, she says it can't wait," The boy retorted.

Rose sighed and took the cell phone, "Thank you."

"Rose?" The President of the United States, Jennie Eggert asked, "I'm really sorry to bother you right now, but something has come up."

Rose sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation, "With all due respect Ma'am, is it so pressing that I have to come back to Washington now? Couldn't Curtis deal with it, granted I don't trust him with a loaf of bread, but one of my kid's High School Graduation can't be canceled?"

"Perhaps I should expand on why I'm calling you," The President said, she was standing with the entire contingent of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all of the Agency Directors in the situation room that was situated directly under the White House, "You see, about a half an hour ago, the FBI received a link on a strange e-mail and when we opened it, there was a live video feed, do you want to know what the video is showing?"

Rose rubbed her forehead and ignored the curious looks that she was getting from everyone around her, "Do I want to know?"

"Well," The President began, "The CIA Analysts have confirmed that it's originating out of China, it's a Class IV Nuclear Weapon."

The former Huntsgirl's eyes widened and then she let out a laugh of incredulity at the situation. Fighting down the urge to run her hand through her hair, she looked over to her husband for a moment and then looked back to her feet, "What do you want me to do Ma'am?"

"Madam Secretary, I'm ordering you to return to the Capital immediately," President Eggert rubbed her forehead.

"Can it wait an hour," Rose pleaded, "Can't you get Curtis to come in and fill in for me until I can get down there, I can't miss this."

The President sighed, she understood, sure, she had run into a remarkably similar situation when her daughter had graduated from High School. It took a lot of risk to be in public positions and still be raising children, but it was moments like this that made it easy to decide one or the other, when someone was broadcasting a video of an armed Nuclear Weapon across the world… It was self explanatory, "I need the DOD Secretary."

Rose's mind hadn't slowed with age at all, and through this entire conversation, she was calculating the risks of defying the President and staying here to see DJ Graduate from High School. Crossing her legs, she threw her head back with an exasperated sigh. She took care to speak in a subdued and hushed voice, "I'm going to make this easy for you Madam President, I'm going to be here to see my son graduate from school one way or the other, now you have to choices as I see it, you allow me to stay here to see my kid get his diploma and you call Curtis to sit in for me at the meeting and when I come back to Washington tomorrow, you chew me out and warn me not to be insubordinate again. Or you can fire me right now, but the one constant in this situation is the fact that I am not going to miss this."

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note: Just curious, has the last few stories gotten too confusing due to the whole element of President Eggert and the Government?, because that's what I'm starting to think. In my drafts for this, I'm trying to bring back the focus back on the Long Family and not about Rose's Job.<strong>


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Curtis Jackson had never really seen $1,000,000 Dollars in cash up until this morning, and it surprised him to find out that it could fit in two cases. That amount of cash was poultry to the benefits that would come from this. He lowered the hood of the sweatshirt that he wore as the two men ushered him into the house. He had been conducting research on what he needed to get this done and get it done correctly. These men seemed the best at what he would want done. He would provide them with their weapons and with the things necessary to get past the almost impenetrable security grid that would be built around the Capital Building. There would be literally thousands of policeman, soldiers and Federal Agents and they would need the information that only he could provide to get past them.

"Mister Jackson," The man, who Curtis could only assume was their leader, spoke in a thick Russian accent, "I have been looking forward to this meeting for a long time."

The man took a deep drag off of the cigarette that he smoked as he eyed the brief cases that were in his hands, "You have the money?"

"1,000,000 untraceable bills direct from the United States Treasury, no one even knows that these have been made," Curtis walked forward and set the cases down on the floor above him, "I trust that this is enough?"

The man smiled, "You have provided us the weapons, and the tactical requirements to penetrate the defensive grid that will surely be around the Capital Building."

"I only want her injured not dead, I repeat, she is not to be killed, only wounded," Curtis needed to be emphasize to the criminal that he didn't want the target dead, merely incapacitated, "Do you understand that?"

The man smiled and nodded, "Not killed or grievously wounded, I remember and I swear that it will be done that way."

"Good," Curtis nodded and motioned to the briefcase on the right, "Everything you need to get past the security grid will be in that case, destroy it as soon as the deed is done."

The leader of the little band nodded and made a motion with his hands for his two guards to come and escort him out of the home. Before he turned, the leader smiled at him, "I sincerely hope this is the last time we meet."

Curtis nodded and turned to walk out of the house, he had just sealed an action that would be a first in the history of the United States. No one had ever had the confidence or the balls to try something on this magnitude, and secretly he knew that they would be disposed of in time. To try something of this magnitude would garner the full ire of the Armed Forces and they would hunt these men down. If there was a single regret that he had in all of this, it was the fact that he had used his real name. He couldn't very well lie to them and to be honest, he hadn't foreseen this complication. Little did he know that these criminals that he had hired were having thoughts of extending their job.

"What do you think?" His lieutenant asked.

The leader of the group didn't respond, he simply flipped through the folder of his target, "A prize as valuable as wounding the United States Secretary of Defense, when the President is only a few feet away as well?"

"Are you suggesting that we eliminate the President and follow the original plan?" The lieutenant asked, in contemplation.

"Our Government would reward us," The leader reasoned.

"On the other hand, if we kill their President and would their Secretary of Defense, they could unleash the full force of the American Military on our Country," The lieutenant's eyes widened at the thought, "And in that case, they'll both come after us."

The Leader of the group seemed to contemplate this, "Maybe your right."

"Then we give this a little more thought before we jump into the fray," The younger man said, "It would be wise with this temptation in front of us."

The Leader of the group nodded, "We will think about it."

Another second leader, the leader of the group picked up a gun he had at the table he was sitting at and shot the lieutenant through the head, "There, we've thought about it. We will carry out what we were paid to do and kill the President while we have this rare chance of getting through security."

But he would keep in mind the fools protests about their own Government. It didn't matter, because he believed that the Russian Government would never betray them to the Americans. The United States would be out for blood, they would be ravenous for revenge. No one had ever dared to try something of his magnitude and it would be no territory for them to react, but react they would. He turned and looked at one of his underlings.

"Begin making observations of the Capital Mall, get a map and mark out points that will give us a clear and coincidence at the Capital Building," He ordered at one of his stunned associate.

When he was finally left alone from his associates, he turned and bent down to pick up the long grey case on the floor. Putting it on the table, she opened it up and revealed the three pieces of the sniper rifle that he would use to get this job done. The high powered scope had been specially made for high distance shooting and he suspected that it would be more the adequate for this. He also suspected that both the President and the Secretary of Defense would be wearing the best body armor that the United States Government could procure and he admitted that the only bullets that he had could barely work on the best known armor in the world. He wasn't sure if the President and the Defense Secretary was even wearing the best known body armor, they could wearing unknown armor that could have been suppressed by the US Government and in that case, this would all be in vain.

But he would have to try.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 **

Marshall Gordon had served his country all of his life. His father had been a Chief Intelligence Advisor for almost five Presidents and he had been working for the Government since he had gotten out of High School. He had spent a long time in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East and still had maintained a life in the states during his times in the field. It was very impressive to those who knew him, but due to what he had done in his life, he hadn't allowed many people to know him. His children and his wife were the only ones who even had a remote idea of who he really was and even then he hadn't given them the whole story, merely a well-designed cover.

That was before he had been choose to be the Director of the United States Central Intelligence, after that, his story was made ever clearer and he and his family were put out of danger. When he was an Agent in the field, his designations and names changed frequently and his times away from his wife and family differed, but he always had balanced it professionally.

His last assignment as an undercover agent was as a liaison of the US Ambassador to Russian Head of State, or as the position was known at the time, the Premier of the Soviet Union. He knew things that would bring down that Government and if they were aware of him, he didn't know, but he was untouchable at this point. CIA Director Gordon had always kept a special eye on the Russians, and that's why he was brought to this highly classified meeting. After that he'd on the very first plane to New York City.

He had his newest Agent to welcome, in the form of DJ Long. The son of his superior, the Secretary of Defense, and at one time, arguably the best Agent that ever walked through the doors of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, Rose Long. The deal that he had put in place with her to get DJ into the CIA would mean that she would have to effectively take a temporary leave of absence as DOD Secretary, which meant that she would be back.

He couldn't wait for that to happen.

When she was in the CIA, its ability to take down threats to the Country tripled, and though it would be temporary, her child would be the next best thing. Director Gordon anticipated that he was highly trained and the child wasn't even out of High School yet and he hadn't been involved with any Law Enforcement operation. He had extremely high expectations for David Jacob Long as well as the polished brass of the US Intelligence Services.

This meeting hadn't been scheduled for him, in fact he was going to go directly to New York, but he was told that this was very important. Vladimir Krycokv, the Head of the Russian Intelligence Service, known as FIS, requested a video conference with him at the earliest time possible. He said that it was a matter both of their countries security. He had no choice but to postpone his flight to New York for this, "Vlad, what was so important?"

"Director Gordon," Vladimir began, "This morning, one of my informants in a rouge group of former Intelligence Agents for my Government brought information to my attention that could pose an unimaginable risk to your President, I was just told about this now and I knew I needed to tell you."

Gordon narrowed his eyes, "Elaborate."

"There is a group of rouge and now former FIS Operatives in Washington D.C at this very moment," The Russian Intelligence Head complied, "We've been watching them for months now and according to the operative that I put in the group, they were contacted by someone in your Government and given classified Government Information on the Security Plans of President Eggert's inauguration. He sent me pictures of the schematics that we're given to the group, and the mission is equally alarming. Now before I tell you what it is, you have to understand, that if we had prior knowledge of these events, the Russian Government would have put them to an end."

Director Gordon's jaw tightened, "Vladimir, you and I both know that our security plans for the Presidential Inauguration are tighter then the access codes for our Nuclear Weapons. We value the security of the President above all else. Now if what you are telling me is true, I have to proceed with the fact that there is an active threat to the President's life and that it was rooted with actions that you took personally. And that means that-…"

"Marshall," Vladimir reasoned with him, "We did not authorize them to go into the United States and violate your sovereignty. Two months ago, this same group was responsible for a break in at a secure Government Records depository that led to sensitive information being given to the Chinese. These men are dangerous and are wanted by our Government, do not mistake that these actions would be tolerated by the Russian Federation."

Marshall rubbed his forehead, "Look, I know, I'm just not used to a security breach of this magnitude, do they know who this Government Official is?"

"Only the leader of the group knew this man's name, it wasn't told to the others, but I assume that the only way that they could have gotten this information was to have a high rank within the Government?" He asked.

The CIA Director nodded, "Level eight, that's equivalent to a Senator or a Congressman. Level Nine is all but one Cabinet Secretary and Branch Directors such as myself, the highest level is Ten and that's the President, Vice President, The Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

"That is a lot of high level officials," The other man commented.

Director Marshall nodded, "It is, I trust that you'll give us everything that you know of these men and assist us in any way that we need to counter their attack on the Inauguration, because I can assure you Vlad, if you-…"

"The Russian Federation is at your service in this matter Marshall," Vladimir nodded with a smile, he had been friends with the Director of the CIA for decades, and in secret, he had been a onetime informant for the US during the seventies, and at the time, he had reported to Marshal, "I'm sending you everything that we have, all you have to do is ask if you need anything."

"Believe me, we'll be seeing each other again," Marshall nodded, "Now, I have to inform the President of this right now, I'll speak with you soon."

The Russian man nodded, "I look forward to hearing from you and one more thing, there was another target that this rouge team was paid to neutralize."

His eyebrows rose into his hairline, "Who is it, high level target?"

"The Secretary of Defense, but the curious thing is, this man only wants this team to wound her," Vladimir crossed his arms over his chest, "I found that peculiar, and then I found out that this team was only paid to wound the Secretary of Defense, I believe that President Eggert has been targeted because she will only be a few feet away from the paid and intended mark."

"The DOD Secretary and the President?" Marshall stunned, he was the head of the most powerful Intelligence Organization and this has side swiped him suddenly, "Look, Vlad, I really need to speak with the President right now."

Vladimir nodded with an understand smile, "I'll speak with you soon."

When the videoconference line was ended, Marshall looked at the screen that once held the FIS Head's face and sighed. With Presidential Inaugurations, they had never had to deal with these sort of threats, sure, they had the typical threatening letters and such, but nothing from a group of a bunch of rouge foreign intelligence agents. The CIA Director sighed and leaned forward to press the intercom on the phone, "Connie, FIS is sending us some documents, can you have them ready in a car when I get out there and alert the White House that I have to brief the President in person?"

"Yes Director Gordon," His secretary nodded, "It'll be done at once."

* * *

><p>"You're lucky I like you Rose," President Eggert warned her in a terse, scathing tone, "I expect you and your family to be in town for the Inauguration and I want you in Washington ready for work tomorrow, or I will fire you, do you understand me Madam Secretary, you will be let go."<p>

From the other side of the line, Rose Long breathed a sigh of relief, "You have no idea how grateful I am, and even though I don't trust Curtis, he can get things done and right now he is the only thing that I can give you."

"I know, just enjoy your kids Graduation," The President of the United States, Jennie Eggert said as her Chief of Staff knocked on her door and made a motion that was a silent signal between them that meant visitors, "I have to go Rose, I'll call you if anything develops from this Nuke Situation."

"Bye Ma'am," Rose said and hung up her phone.

Jennie set the phone back down on the receiver and looked up to Carmen with an expectant look, "I have a meeting in ten minutes with Cabinet and the Chinese Prime Minister, this had better be very important Carmen."

"Director Gordon over at CIA is here with some information from the Russian FIS Head that concerns a matter of National Security," Carmen said, "He says that it is a very serious threat against your life and the DOD Secretary."

The President blinked, "What a coincidence, just got off the phone with her."

"What about your life ma'am? I have to prepare for the eventuality that there may be a group of a Foreign Intelligence Agents on US Soil, who will try to take your life and seriously endanger Rose's life," Director Gordon had grown steadily furious on his way to the White House and he was this close to questioning every single official with a Class-8 Authorization and that was hundreds of people, all of which were extremely powerful people in the United States Government, "I have to insist on taking control of security of the Inauguration and perhaps moving it inside the Rotunda for enclosure."

President Eggert rubbed her forehead, "Is this intelligence credible?"

"It came directly from the Head of Russian FIS," He nodded.

The President scowled, "You know that I put Rose in control of security and she had been coordinating with FBI, NSA, National Guard and Military. She hasn't told me if she reached out to you. I did, though I gave her permission to circumvent you if she felt she needed the CIA to help protect the Capital."

Marshall's eyes widened, "You gave her the authority to go over my head if she wanted to use some of my agents to protect you?"

"I did," Jennie nodded, "I knew that you wouldn't like it, so that's why I didn't let you know. Now, with this recent development, I'm going to move you and Rose into a partnership to coordinate the defense of the Capital."

That reminded him of something. He scratched the top of his head. "I assume that you remember when I asked you to authorize DJ Long, Rose's Son, into getting into the CIA Academy without the general prerequisites."

She narrowed her eyes, "Of course, shouldn't he be joining the Academy soon?"

"Are you aware of what I asked Rose to do in return?" Marshall raised an eyebrow.

The President looked up at him with a confused expression. There was not a lot that she didn't know about. She was involved in most of the intricate details of the members of her Administration and there wasn't a lot that they did without her permission or at least prior knowledge. Jennie had indeed known about Rose's bargain to get DJ into the CIA Academy, but she didn't know that the CIA Director had asked something of her in return. Rose was a valued member of her administration and of her team and the prospect this strange 'deal' sent a chill down her spine. That woman was one of the most, if not _the _most effective Secretary of Defense since the days of World War II. She had made America respected again in terms of its Military and its efficiency. Jennie had dealt with Rose's fears of being in that position for the first month of her tenure, but as Rose worked more and more, she grew to like it.

World Leaders and other Military Heads had even sent them their praise of her Defense Secretary and that was what prompted Jennie to begin the process of re-nominating her for another run as DOD Secretary.

But what exactly was the CIA Director wanting from her, "No, what was it?"

"She agreed to come back temporarily and train DJ," Director Gordon said nervously, he recognized the looks of confusion and anger that had come over the President's face, "Until she felt he was ready to be a full Agent."

There was silence from the President as she absorbed those words, she didn't want to stop Rose from helping her son, but she didn't want to lose her DOD Secretary. She would have to throw her weight around if she was going to have her cake and eat it too, "Marshall, I will not allow you to comprise the Department of Defense because you want perfection in your Agents, Rose Long is the greatest DOD Secretary since Robert McNamara and I will not lose her because of you. I want you to tell her that she can train DJ, however, she is to maintain her duties as DOD Secretary in the process. I don't give a damn what you think, I will not go a single day without her if she still works for us."

She would not, the Secretary of Defense was the Deputy Commander and Chief of the United States Armed Forces, the most powerful Military on Earth and Rose had made one hell of a deputy.

"Are you sure?" Marshall asked her, he looked resigned.

The President nodded, "That is a direct order Director Gordon. I suggest you follow it. And do whatever you have to do to secure the Inauguration, but I want you to work in conjecture with Rose on it, understood?"

Director Gordon nodded, "Yes Ma'am."

* * *

><p>"So you're not fired?" Jake asked her, he was concerned only moments before when his wife had turned as white as a sheet.<p>

Rose shook her head and placed her cellphone back into her purse, "No, but I need to tread on thin ice with her."

The Graduation Ceremony had begun moments ago and during the moments when students when come up and receive their diploma, she had been finishing her tense conversation with the President. She loved her job, she really did, it was really one of the many great things that had happened to her, but she loved her children more and not even the President of the United States, who was more than entitled to order her around, couldn't stop her from seeing this moment. She looked up and saw her son in his blue gradation cap and gown approach the stage as his name was called. She smiled in adoration and he took the diploma from the Principle of the School's hand and grinned for the customary photograph and walked off the stage on the other side and Rose felt her stomach drop. So that was it, DJ was no longer a child, he was man, he was officially done with School and on his own.

It was a surreal moment for her, she could remember everything about his life, from the day she gave birth to him, to this moment and she wouldn't have traded it for everything in the world. She cursed inwardly as her eyes began to water, why did she have to have so many kids? She was going to experience this five more times and it was in that moment that she thought that she was a true sadist, "I can't believe that he's grown up on his Jake."

"We knew that it was bound to happen," Jake shrugged, he was fighting off a crying jag as well, "But he raised him right, you taught him everything you knew and you're sending him on a path that he wants."

"A CIA Agent," Rose scoffed and sagged in exhaustion, "And I have to spend the next month training him, and odds are, I'll have to be doing my other job at the same time, it's going to be a long month Jake."

Jake grinned and threw an arm around his wife, "Think of it this way, your setting your son up to be greater then you are, he'll have everything you've got, plus more."

"I may have gotten passive in the past few years," Rose turned and glared knives at her husband, she put an arm around his mid-section and grasped his side tightly in a death grip. It caused a bolt of pain to course through him, "But do not act like one of those Husbands who is not afraid of his wife, I am still better then all of my children in that arena and they are never going to beat me, I am the best killer in the world sweetie, so don't tease me about that."

He grinned her sheepishly as she released his side and rubbed it in pain, "Sorry."


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 **

Rose felt like she was going to be sick to her stomach when the principle announced that all of the students that were on the stage were now High School Graduates. When she had imagined this moment, she imagined that she would be sending her child to Ivy-League College, not the Central Intelligence Agency. DJ always loved to play with fire, but he was leaping into the big oven. Knowing the standard deployment for international field operatives, they'd be sent to the easiest regions and then the very hardest regions. That ranged from Western Europe to all over the Asian Countries.

As Defense Secretary, and, she'd admit it with pride, the Director of the CIA's favorite former Agent, she held some weight. She wasn't sure to ask to have DJ put in Domestic Branch, or not, she didn't want to interfere. There was another option for both DJ and herself. It was called the Defense Intelligence Agency. It was the Defense Departments equivalent to the CIA, except they focused their eyes on Military Intelligence. It wasn't what DJ wanted, she was sure of that, but she made a mental note to talk to him about it later, "I don't know how your feeling right now Mom, but you need to get that look off of your face before someone calls the cops on you."

Rose shook her head, "Sorry, just a little overwhelmed."

"Oh," DJ raised an eyebrow and then a pointed smirk, which was similar to her own, came across his face. He handed her his diploma and when she took it, he sounded amused almost devious, "Then how do you feel this?"

Scowling, she nudged Jake in the ribs to get him to come to her side as she unfurled the paper. As she expected, the document proclaimed that her son had graduated from High School in the top tier of his Graduating Class. Jake grinned and walked forward to hug his son, but Rose merely looked at it in adoration. This document arguably ended their son's childhood.

"Well," Rose returned the diploma to DJ and wiped the small tears that had gathered in the corners of both of her eyes, "Congrats, time to get a job."

DJ's face erupted into a bright, almost gleeful grin, "I'll get right on that."

From behind Alyssa, his grandmother, and his parents, he saw Marissa. He grin was just as bright as it was with his parents. Rushing forward, he wrapped his arms around Marissa and gave her a burning kiss on the lips. It took Rose a few years to realize this, but DJ had and in some respects, still growing up. Her son had always been handsome, his brown hair and blue eyes were an odd combination, but he had gotten his father's bone structure and all of that made a very handsome face. However, he had always been short and his lack of height had always been something of an insecurity.

But in the past two years, the little prick had shot up to six feet tall. He was just as tall as his father and he was taller than her. It was an odd feeling to look up to speak to him, she had always looked down or slightly down, but it was up now. He was handsome, tall, smart and he knew how to kill and make it look like an accident 17 different ways. But somehow, she had the feeling that he was going to end up with Marissa. She was very much similar to DJ. She was very smart, a gorgeous woman with her famous Hutchinson looks, and she could kill people just as easily and brilliantly as her son could.

Those two were a match made in Huntsclan Heaven.

And she supposed it was similar to her relationship with Jake. She had given up every single thing that she had believed in and known, she trusted him with her life and she'd go to the gates of hell to get him out. Rose would bet everything that she had that he felt the same way. And she sensed that the same thing had developed between Marissa and DJ. She wished them luck and she couldn't have been happier for them, but the little bitch was taking her son from her and she only wished they wouldn't flaunt it.

"Jesus," Jake whispered to her, "You can kill with your eyes you know."

Rose growled and turned to the window of the in which the graduates were meeting with their families before they went home, "I just cannot stand the fact that I have to give DJ up to someone else, he's my little boy Jake."

Grinning, he threw an arm around her shoulder, "He's my boy too, but we knew that this was going to happen and Marissa loves him. She wouldn't do anything to hurt him and she's going to protect him fiercely, like with me."

"I'm lulling you into a false sense of security," She commented dryly.

"What? For thirty years?" He grin was even wider.

Rose narrowed her eyes, "Shut your face."

"Why don't you shut it for me babe?" He challenged her, he didn't think that she'd do anything, even to tease him, right in this crowded area and he doubted that she would want to embarrass her son. He was very wrong.

She reached up and gripped his lower jaw and forced it against the rest of his skull. Rose grinned, "And you thought that I wouldn't want to embarrass DJ? For you information, I don't give a shit, I can still do what I want."

"He turns 18 in a few days," Jake reminded her as he rubbed his jaw, "You won't be able to shit to him then, he'll be a legal adult, get over it Rose."

She narrowed her eyes, "Easy for you to say."

"You look like your about to kill each other," Alyssa hissed as she approached them, "Stop acting like children, this is a big moment for DJ."

That got both Rose and Jake's attention and they both folded their arms over their chests and glared at their daughter. Jake was the first one to begin, he held up a hand and pointed one finger at her, "First of all, you are the child in this situation, you may be married and you may have more children than us, but the fact remains that you are still our child, got it?"

"I'm not a little girl anymore," Alyssa scowled, "I've got teeth now."

He raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, but mine are bigger."

Rose shook her head in annoyance and pushed her in between them, forcing them back a few steps. That caught both Jake and Alyssa off guard, for as long as they had both known her, she had more strength then she appeared outwardly, "Oh enough, you're both Dragons, you both suck. I could take you both with my hands and legs tied together, so shut up."

Alyssa and Jake looked at her fading form with surprise. This wasn't normally how she acted. She normally just stood there and watched their little spats, but she never broke them up and never did it in such an insulting manner. Jake almost went after her, but he was surprised to find his daughters arm suddenly clutch his. He turned back to her and narrowed his eyes, "Do you have any idea what's going on with your mother?"

"Yeah," Alyssa said, "I told her that I wouldn't tell you, but you need to know this one. Do you remember when you went through your midlife-…"

Jake stopped her with a chuckle, "…You're kidding?"

"No, this is hers," Alyssa resumed gently, "Just be gentle with her, she's going to get a lot more aggressive, mean spirited in general, that thing."

Jake sighed, "Well, thanks for letting me in on the big cover up."

**OOOOO**

Her age was catching up to her and she didn't like it. If there was ever a time in her life that she would ever like to skip or to avoid, it would have been this one. For all intents and purposes, she enjoyed this part of her life, however, the looming feeling of one's mortality catching up to them was irritating, and frightening at the same time. If you had asked her the question of what she would be doing when she was 51, when she was 16, she would have told you that she would be the Huntsmistress. Not the United States Secretary of Defense, former CIA Agent and married happily with six children and even more grandchildren.

When her phone began to ring, she almost let it ring, but she had made the mistake of looking at the caller ID. Normally, she wouldn't pick up for a restricted number, but this was from her work phone and only those within the superstructure of the United States Government called her on this phone. Sighing, she answered and put it to her ear, "I'm busy."

"You have time for this Madam Secretary," A Russian Voice answered to her, "It concerns the National Security of both the United States and the Russian Government, not to mention your life and that of your President."

Her eyes widened, "Who is this?"

"Agent Gulin, Russian Intelligence," He said with a bit of a laugh, "Might I remind you that we put about a hundred bullet holes into Zhu De together?"

Rose's eyes narrowed further, but she nodded, "Yeah I remember, how I could I forget. This is a restricted and heavily classified US Government number, how in the hell did you manage to get your hands on it?"

"Let's just say, I have a friend in the CIA who let me have it," He sounded smug, hell she would be too if she had been a Russian Agent who could get a hold of the United States DOD Secretary's number, "I have some information that you might want to look at, it'll interesting."

She rolled her eyes, "Give it to Marshall Gordon over at CIA, in case you weren't aware, I'm not CIA anymore, I run the US Military now."

"You're the only one that I trust with this," He told her, "When I end this conversation, the following is going to happen in short order. First, you'll call Marshall Gordon and inform him of this situation, he's going to tell you that he knows and that he's spoken of with my superiors in Moscow. Knowing how your Government works, news will spread and until it reaches the instigator of the threat to your life, you need to keep this contained. So I am asking you to come to me and hear me out, it is important."

Rose sighed and rubbed her forehead, "I'm not making the trip to wherever you are just so I can hear a dud, you give me a general outline of what you're talking about and I'll meet you wherever you need me to meet you."

"Is this line secure?" He asked curiously.

The former Huntsgirl looked at the wall in front of her dryly, "Seriously?"

"I forgot who I was speaking too," Gulin laughed lightly for a moment before his voice became serious again, "As of this moment, there are two things transpiring within your country and one very important thing within mine. There is a group of so-called, rouge FIS Agents on your soil right now and there is a traitorous member of your Government paying them and supplying information to them on your Presidents Swearing in. Now, we have a mole inside the group telling us what they're doing, care to guess?"

Her eyes widened and she felt the breath in her lungs leave her for a long moment, "Are you saying that there is a group of highly trained FIS Agents on American Soil and they have the plans to our security grid around the President, and a traitor in our Government gave the plans to them?"

"Yes," He nodded, "I'll tell you the final details when you arrive at the lake in Central Park, North Lookout Point, I'll find you, and you have 30 Minutes."

She rubbed her forehead harder when the phone call ended and the other end went dead. Oh her life she got extremely complicated. Now she had to explain to her family why she disappeared and she'd be late for the little surprise party that they had set up for DJ back at the apartment. She was a good at lying, but she didn't know if she'd be able to get past this one all that easily.

* * *

><p>If there was one look on DJ's face that made her sick, it was the subtle look of disappointment. She had tried to reassure him that she'd be back soon, but that look wouldn't go away. Rose had told Jake that it was a work thing, but that didn't whip the rather angry look off of his face either. It couldn't be helped, she couldn't pass this up and besides, she'd return to the apartment after this meeting. But that still didn't undo the damage that it had caused.<p>

Combining trying to get a cab and trying to get to Central Park in less than thirty minutes at this time of the day in Downtown New York City was a feat for the ages. But she had done it. She couldn't have just gotten her driver to take her to Central Park, but then again, this had to be kept under wraps and she had a strange feeling that a clandestine meeting would be reported and she couldn't risk this being spread, "You're quick on your feet Rose."

"It helps to be blue eyed, blonde and leggy," Rose smirked as she felt FIS Agent Gulin come up behind her and stand next to her at the railing that overlooked large lake in the center of the Central Park, "What's this all about? What's the big secret that you couldn't have told me on the phone?"

She turned and looked at the clean cut and trimmed Russian Intelligence Agent. He wore a pair of thick black sunglasses as he folded his arms over his chest, "Right now, there is a silent attempt by the Russian Military to take over the Government. What my boss failed tell Director Gordon was that this rouge group of intelligence officers are not so rouge. They are in the secret employ of the Russian Federation and at the behest of the Generals that are now holding a gun to the back of President Alexandra."

"The Military is in control of the Russian Federation?" Rose asked.

Gulin nodded, "In a manner of speaking. They control all Military, Foreign Policy and some issues of Domestic Security. All of these Generals were under watch by the FIS for their Communist activates and we were ready to arrest them, but the President ordered us to back off. That was before she told us that she had those Generals threating to kill her and take control."

"What's FIS's stand on this?" Rose asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's the same as yours, we want to protect our President and secure our Government," He said in a hushed tone, "But with the Military under those General's control, we can't do that without in sighting a Civil War between the Military and the rest of us. We need to do this very, very, very gently."

Rose turned and scowled, "What did they order those people to do?"

"Nothing initially, but when they were contacted by this traitor in your Government, they saw an opportunity and they took it," He told her with a serious expression, "The Generals only informed the leader of this group, Dmitri Radliv to do whatever this traitor pay them for and then kill your President. Other than that, our informant has now other answers."

"Do you at least know where this traitor is?" Rose asked him.

"The Department of Defense, might I add that they paid this team to wound you, not mortally, just enough to remove you from your job," He answered.

Rose looked over to him and blinked, that meant that she oversaw this person and that was a failure on her part. Not to mention that someone who was working for her wanted her shot. She blinked at him again in incredulousness and put her hands on her hips, "There are 700,000 people who work for me and two million in the Military. And there are at least two hundred people who have access to those plans, but only a hand full that can actually get all of them and receive copies of them. I'm aware that it's Russian Policy to not give a shit what we do, so why are you all helping us?"

"I believe that it's called Quid Pro Quo," He told her with a smile.

Rose smiled and nodded, "Of course, you scratch our back we scratch yours, so what, may I ask, is the sort of itch that you need scratching?"

"Your assistance, the FIS is preparing to remove the Generals from their position of controlling the President," He folded his arms over his chest, "We need some sort of assistance, quelling every sort of social uprising."

"That's the CIA's specialty," Rose grinned, "So that's it?"

"Tell your President that the Russian Federation will be eternally grateful to the United States if you help us stop this attempted Junta," He looked down to her and smiled, "I convinced my boss that you are to be trusted and I anticipate that you will be told that all of these things I'm telling you is false, be aware that Military is monitoring most of our communications, except the FIS's Diplomatic line to you, but we didn't want to take any chances."

Rose nodded, "I'll convey the message."

"Good," He sighed, "You realize that this situation is dangerous, the FIS is more than capable of removing the Generals from behind the President's back, but we don't have the man power to consolidate the Military and quell the uprisings that will most definitely follow their removal. But if we fail, and that will happen if we don't have the US and CIA backing-…"

"The Military seizes power, it destabilizes the entire would, the Evil Empire is back," Rose said as the realization of the consequences of this came upon her.

Gulin smiled, "You're beginning to understand now Rose."


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 **

"So what are you going to do for the next few days?" Marissa asked DJ as she and he stepped out onto the balcony to have a few moments alone. The party inside was still going on and they had to get away from all of it.

DJ shrugged and took of sip of the drink that he had in his hand before turning back to her and smiling, "Mom and I are going to Washington D.C to be at the President's Inauguration and then I'm going to be shuffled into the CIA, or if Mom has something to say about it, into the Defense Department."

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Rose's voice said from the doorway of the Balcony and both Marissa and DJ turned to look at her, "Can I have a few moments with DJ? It involves his future career plans and as of this moment, those are classified, even for my future daughter in-law."

Marissa grinned and nodded before turning and walking around Rose and back into the Apartment. When Marissa was inside the apartment, Rose waited and turned to close the sliding door before walking to take her place beside her son. She mirrored DJ's leaning pose and looked up the streets below. New York City had always hummed with life, at all hours of the day and the fact that it was 7:00 PM didn't hamper it, "There's a reason that I had to leave you at the High School. I got a call from one of my contacts with the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, there has been a silent Military Junta put in place inside the Russian Government and I was being briefed."

"The Military has seized control of Russia, that's dangerous," He said, his eyes widened, he understood Geo-Political movements and if the Military was in control of the geographically largest country on Earth, chaos would break out, "What are you going to do about this? Military, Intelligence?"

Rose shrugged, "I'm going to brief the President about this tomorrow, and you should know that the Russians have informed us that there is a traitor in our Government, specifically the Defense Department, and he gave the plans for our security grid around the Capital for President to a Russian Foreign Intelligence Agent whose leading a group here in the US. But here's the thing, this traitor only paid them to shoot me, not the President, but the Russians are telling us that this team is taking advantage of this chance."

She found it amusing when her son turned an interesting shade of red at the words she spoke of someone trying to assassinate her. Looking down, she saw his fist clenched against the railing, "Some prick wants you dead?"

"Well no," Rose smiled to herself, "Whoever did it is an idiot, they specifically asked for them to only wound me and not enough to kill me. But these idiots are lacking the knowledge that I've been shot before and I can take a bullet, short of them blowing my head off or hitting a vital organ. But there's more to this then I'm letting on. I need to weed out the traitor in my Department and couple that with training you, I don't know if I can do that."

DJ sighed, "I understand Mama, and I can wait until this is all sorted out."

"Well, I've been thinking of a way to get you started while I'm dealing with all of this," Rose began as she began to think of what she had thought about on the way home from Central Park, "Have you ever heard of the DIA?"

DJ turned and shook his head, "No."

"It's called the Defense Intelligence Agency, it's the DOD Counterpart to the CIA, though they report to me exclusively and I use them to gather Military Intelligence," Rose tapped her fingers against the railing, "I have control over that Agency and let me just tell you that the procedures are almost mirror to CIA. I could offer you a position there and it will be much easier for me to offer you some training, and you could work with me while I sort this out and then I can issue you a transfer to CIA and then I'll comply with the rest of the bargain that Marshall Gordon set up, is that okay for you?"

He turned to her and smirked, "Will I enjoy it?"

"You'll be working with and for your Mommy," She teased him.

Grinning he turned back to the street, "Will Gordon still allow me into the CIA after all of this is over with and will I want to leave this DIA afterwards?"

Rose grinned, "After I'm through with you, you'll be screaming for CIA, and besides, he's the Director of the CIA, I'm the Secretary of Defense, and Gordon likes me. My guns are bigger and he knows that if he denies you entrance, I'll filet him and eat him alive."

"Mama, I don't want to get a job because Mommy got it for me," He told her, "I mean, I can hear it now, _you're only here because your Mother is the Secretary of Defense and you wouldn't even get close otherwise._"

Rose giggled and turned and folded her arms over his chest and looked into the large window pane that looked into her house, "DJ, you know you are more than qualified to be in any intelligence agency in the world. You were ready to do it at Birth. I made sure of that, you were the only one of my kids who had the Mark and I took special attention to hone those skills. All you have to do, is whoop the guys ass whose busting your balls, got it. That's what I taught you, shoot first and then shoot some more, remember that."

He turned and smiled at her and Rose got a glimpse of her son with the light of the apartment shining on his face, she smiled fondly. This boy, no-… man in front of her was all grown up and it killed her, "You know, today I got my first real look at you in a long time and you what I see. A man, a man who is ready to do everything that his all-seeing, all powerful Mother set him up for, and as much as I hate giving you up, you're ready for your life son."

DJ smiled warmly at her, "I'm not so sure that I want to leave you."

Rose smiled and threw an arm around her shoulder, "I don't want you to leave either baby, but you need to. I can't keep you sheltered, you'll have one kids one day, you'll have your own star studded career. I'd like to think that I was responsible for you being able to do it, but I know I'm not."

Shrugging, he put his arm around his mother's waist and laid his head on her shoulder, "I love you Mama, and I'm honored to be your progeny."

Rose chuckled, "Oh yes, we all know this."

"So I guess I'm coming to work for you?" He asked with raised eyebrows.

She folded her arms over her chest and nodded, "Unless you want to be my Secretary, I've got five of them. I could always use a sixth little servant."

DJ chuckled, "Being your servant all day, taking messages and drinking crappy, swill-coffee, I don't think so, I'm ready to do action for a living."

"Well then, it's the DIA for the moment," Rose nodded and reached into the pocket of pants for her cellphone, "I'll make the call, and this means that you're going to be in the Defense Department Delegation for Tuesday."

His eyes widened, "Y-You mean that I'm going to be on TV?"

"Oh yeah," Rose nodded with a grin, "You're name's going to be said too."

He stared at her blankly, "What in the hell are you going to put in it?"

DJ was seriously expecting something very interesting if his mother had control over what titles she ordered for the members of her delegation. It was going to be an awkward moment when he was announced as the 'fruit of the Secretary of Defense's womb' or something as equally embarrassing in front of the entire world. DJ's eyes widened at that thought, the entire world would be watching this, they always did, "Mama, what's the title?"

"You will be, Mommy's little helper," She grinned.

DJ narrowed his eyes, "Mom?"

"Oh alright," Rose nodded and turned to lean against the lean, "I do have control over my delegation and since I want you to work close with me, you're going to be in a temporary position. You're going to be the Defense Intelligence Agency's Junior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense, you will report to know one but me and I am your boss, not the Senior Advisor."

"So when some bloated prick face tells me that I'm his underling, I have permission to tell him to fuck off?" DJ asked with a serious expression.

Rose shook her head, "Telling Fleet Admiral Curry to fuck off is not a good idea, that man is also the head of two of our largest fleets. That man doesn't take shit, but he does take orders and I'll inform him that even though you will be the Junior Advisor and he's the Senior Advisor, he isn't your Boss, I am and you report to me, you issue your own reports to me and your own advice, you're primary function will be an advisor, understood?"

DJ nodded, "I don't want to be an advisor for long."

"Don't worry," Rose grinned and tapped him on the shoulder, "You'll get to play with a gun every now and then and as soon as I'm done rooting out this bitch who has the nerve to someone to shoot me. Is that understood DJ?"

He nodded and looked into the window at the guests inside of the apartment, DJ wasn't even sure how his parents knew all of these people. It occurred to him that his mother was standing right next to him and it was the perfect opportunity to ask her, "Who in the hell are all of these people?"

"Oh," Rose smiled, "You're Grandparents wanted them here."

"I forgot, they are socialites," DJ rolled his eyes.

"They're not really, they don't give a shit what half the people in the room think about them, but they're still relatively influential and they'd like to keep it that way," Rose inclined to two men who were standing inside and talking with both her father and Jake, "That's the Mayor New York and the Mayor of Carmel in there chatting it up with your Granddad and Dad."

He almost fainted, "What would the Mayor be doing here?"

"My Dad donated $5,000,000 to his campaign, it's a favor," Rose smiled.

Again, he rolled his eyes, "Figures, but hey, I'm honored."

Rose nodded, "I'm sure you should be."

Her parents were extravagant and sometimes Rose indulged them, and when Rose and Jake wanted this sort of thing in a ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria instead of their house, her mother had turned down the idea. She liked the idea of this party being homey. That didn't stop them from ordering $500 Champaign Bottles or expensive food, but as long it was in her apartment and not in a ballroom. God, she loved them, but sometimes she just wanted to strangle them for their idiocy, "God love 'em, but sometimes they're stupid."

"I think that the guests love being close to you," DJ chuckled.

"Are you kidding, your principle had an orgasm on my arrival," Rose grinned.

DJ gagged and shuddered slightly, "That's more then I wanted to know."

* * *

><p>Erin Hutchinson had experienced a very tumultuous two years of her life, at first her daughter in-law was nearly murdered, her mother had escaped death for what was the hundredth time in her life and she almost nearly didn't make it and worst of all, she'd lost her marriage. Mark had filed for divorce six months prior, he cited irreconcilable differences and she couldn't help but agree with him. She had grown very cold in the ten months that her mother lagged on in that Coma and that, coupled with her beliefs in the mortality of killing people who did her harm killed their marriage, she was sure of it.<p>

And they had split amicably, they were still living in the same house, even though they weren't married and she had allowed him to keep the house in the settlement as it were anyway. She was busy looking at apartments in the City to move into and that's the only reason that she was here in the apartment building where Jake and Rose lived. It was quite ironic, the only thing that she could find was above and two apartments down from them.

Sure it was $1,200,000 Bucks, but Mark had agreed to split their finances and that racked up to some large numbers, even split. Brant and Natalia had taken it a little rougher then she had expected. Brant had given her the cold shoulder, but he soon warmed up to the idea and began to defend her against Natalia who hadn't ceased to stop talking to her. They hadn't spoken in a year and as much as it killed her, Erin wasn't going to force her into it.

"I have something for you," Lillian Green said from behind her.

Erin took another sip of her champagne and turned to smile at her lawyer, she had retained her best friend's sister as her lawyer and she had been very effective. If she had wanted to, Lillian could have cleaned Mark out, but Erin wanted nothing for it. She raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

Lillian, who stuck out like a sore thumb in her lawyer's attire, reached down into her briefcase and withdrew a blue paper, "Your divorce is officially final, you are a single woman Erin, I delivered the papers to Mark an hour ago."

Erin nodded and looked down to the paper in her hand, "Thank you."

"Well," Lillian smiled and picked up her briefcase, "I've got ship out, I'm going to go home and get some sleep, I've been in the middle of a big case."

Erin raised an eyebrow, "Aren't going to say hello to your family?"

"Oh that's right," Lillian chuckled, "I forgot where I was, where can I-…?"

She pointed to the window to where DJ and Rose were speaking together and to a small group of people in the center of the Apartment that included her brother, mother, father and brother in-law. Lillian grinned and nodded in thanks to Erin before making her way through crowds of people and coming to the edge of the small circle, "There's my sugar plum, how are you?"

Lillian smiled and hugged her mother tightly, "I'm good, I got just got through delivering Erin's Divorce papers, and I forgot that this was going on."

Jake's eyes widened and turned towards Erin, who seemed to be throwing back the booze, "I better go see how she's doing, excuse me."

She nodded and smiled when Jake leaned down to kiss her on the cheek before moving off to see how Erin was holding up. She looked at her Mother, Brother and Father expectantly, "So how was the ceremony?"

"I was stuck up in Carmel," Bobby answered glumly, "Couldn't make it."

Her father looked positively deathly, "I was at home in bed, I'm so drunk on Nyquil, I can barely see straight."

"It was great," Caroline answered with a smile, "Rose and DJ are talking out on the Balcony, and those two had been out there for the past hour."

Lillian nodded, "After what he's about to do, I wouldn't be surprised."

* * *

><p>Rose used all of her strength to pop the cork off of the champagne that she had brought back out. She poured some into one glass and then to another and looked at DJ and motioned to the other glass. He raised an eyebrow. Sure, he had drunk booze before, but not in front of his parents, "Go ahead."<p>

DJ smirked and picked up the glass and took a deep sip from it, "Jesus, I didn't think that you'd ever let me do that. You expect me to be an angel."

"Well," Rose shrugged, "You're not technically allowed to drink, but in just a few days you're going to be eighteen years old and after that, I guess I can't stop you if you can get your hands on it. I know you've had sex, I've had the displeasure of walking in on the aftermath once. I know you've gotten drunk, I'd like to think that you haven't smoked Pot, but the jury is still out on that and I know you've smoked Cigarettes, I think you can handle this."

DJ blinked, "And here I thought I had kept it all a secret."

The Huntsgirl in her glowered at her son, "That's impossible, I know my kids, they can't keep anything from me and if they think that they are, I just humor them. I suppose since you'll be a legal adult in a few days, I can let the cat out of the bag. But if you tell the rest of them, I'll butcher you."

"I'll keep your little secret," DJ grinned and sipped at the drink again.

When all had quieted down, the sliding door that was the entrance from the balcony into the house opened and out stepped Lillian. She was dressed in a black pantsuit and you could tell that she had just gotten out of court. Rose thought that she looked completely haggard. The rings under her eyes were a sign that she was very much sleep deprived, "You look like a pile of shit."

Lillian nodded and grabbed Rose's glass and downed all of it one drink, "I feel like one two, I've been juggling a divorce and a capital murder trial for the past week and I thank god that I've got the Divorce finally finished."

"Erin's divorce is final?" DJ raised an eyebrow.

Lillian nodded and leaned down to kiss DJ on the cheek, "Yeah it is, and I'm sorry that I couldn't make it to the ceremony sweetie, been really busy."

"Oh its fine," DJ grinned and kissed her on the cheek, "I understand."

She smiled and nodded before taking another drink of the booze. DJ had grown fond of his aunt in the time that he had known her. It helped that she was his mother's twin, but he liked her attitude. Lillian was sort of the anti-Rose and he found her completely fascinating, "You looked whipped out."

"I am," Lillian yawned and then she turned to Rose, "I meant to tell you something and I almost forgot. I was in my office during lunch today when I got the most peculiar phone call. It was from the Attorney General."

Rose's eyebrows went into her hairline, "The AG, what would he want?"

The Attorney General of the United States was in a sense, the most powerful Lawyer in the United States. The AG was the Government's impromptu Lawyer and he represented the United States Federal Government in all its legal action. Personally, Rose and the Attorney General got along great and she would have like to say that they were friends, but perhaps it was only their working relationships, "It appears that the New York US Attorney is retiring and he wants me to come and take his place. I told him, I'd consider it, but I want to know if you had some action in this Rose?"

"No," Rose shook his head, "I've been busy myself and I know that you wouldn't want me to pull some strings and try to get you a job like that."

That annoyed her, she suspected that Rose was lying to her, but with the one thing she had learned in the time that she had known her sister, it was that you couldn't read her face. Sometimes, her mask would crack, but even in the most stressful situations, she had a cool, calm, collected face. But she had an ace in the hole, the Attorney General had told her that Rose had really been talking her up lately. "Really, because it's funny, The Attorney General had told me that you had been talking about me lately. He said that the moment that the US Attorney here in New York announced his retirement, you began fucking lobbying him for me to take his place!"

Rose looked down on the table, "So, your sister tries to get the Attorney General to make you a US Attorney and you bite my head off."

Her face softened, "It's not so much that you did that, it's that you were going to let this go without telling me. If I'm going to be a US Attorney, I want to do it on my own and I don't want you pulling your strings, got it?"

"So you'll take the job?" Rose grinned.

Lillian narrowed her eyes, "Yes, but don't do something like this again."

"Good," Rose smiled and nodded, "So I've got another reason to celebrate."

The other woman shook her head, "I've got to go home, the Judge has granted us recess through the weekend and I'm going to take advantage."

Rose nodded, "Go home, get some sleep."


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 **

"I'm going to head on home," Marissa yawned and leaned forward to kiss DJ lightly on the cheek. The Party had calmed down about an hour ago and the only people still left in the apartment were family members, "See you later."

DJ stood up from the couch and smiled before he put an arm around her waist and pulled her close. He kissed her and leaned down to whisper lightly in her ear, "Can you hold on for a minute, I want to try something, okay?"

Marissa nodded uncertainly, "Sure."

Smiling at her again, DJ turned to his parents, who were looking at the two of them expectantly. Both Rose and Jake had shown a lot more patience with Marissa and DJ's relationship then they had with Alyssa and Johnny and far more than they had with Rachel and Jordan, there were limits though. It never occurred to DJ that they had reservations, but they did. All of their children were so much like them and they had a pretty correct estimation of what would happen if they were left alone. But then again, DJ was always a little bit more conscious of the rules and of their feelings and responsibilities as parents, he hadn't ignored it, until that moment. "What do you want from us?"

"Nothing from you but your permission," DJ asked, "I want to stay the night with Marissa."

Rose gave a sidelong glance to Jake who looked at her with the same contemplative look. They didn't know what they were going to do, this was literally the very first time that it had happened with DJ. When Rachel spent the night with her boyfriend, she didn't bother to tell them. Holding a finger up to both DJ and Marissa, he beckoned Rose with that same finger and she nodded. When Jake turned and walked out onto the balcony, Rose quickly followed him and shut the door behind her. This was a conversation that she fully intended on no one hearing and the only thing that the others would know was the result of it. Rose sighed and looked back into the apartment. All of her children had a look of curiosity on their faces. She knew what they were thinking, that this was going to be a conversation that in sighted World War III, "You and I both know what they're going to do if we let them stay the night together."

"Well Jesus," She said dryly, "He's going to be eighteen years old in a few days, we can't pry them apart when he can go off and have sex with her all he wants to in a few days. Isn't that your logic sugar bear?"

He narrowed his eyes, "Alright, shut the fuck up."

"And if this is your usual shit about not letting your kids have lives, save it. I've heard it for thirty fucking years and I've had it," She said as she walked over and placed her hand on the rail, "And it's not like that haven't had sex before Jake, they've had sex a lot, I even walked in on it once. We can't stop him, he's going to do it and there's nothing you and I can do about it. If anything we need to change our approach on this shit with Rachel and the other kids. I mean my god, I love Marissa and Johnny, but if another one of my kids ends up with another Hutchinson I'm going to scream. But I'd much prefer Rachel going out with one of them then her shitty little boyfriend."

Jake sagged, "Good point, maybe we shouldn't pressure them so much."

"Maybe we need to set Rachel and Jordon down and talk this out," Rose nodded and put her hands on her hips, "But back to our original point, do you think we should let him go over to Marissa's apartment?"

Jake sighed and scratched his forehead, "I don't like this, every time we've done something like this, our kid ended up pregnant."

"Well you're not going to have this problem," Rose snickered, "We've told him to use protection and he knows the consequences of not doing it. I suppose with that considered, I don't have an problems with DJ going over there."

Jake looked down and nodded, "I suppose I don't either."

Nodding, Rose turned and walked towards the sliding door and went back inside of the apartment. All of them were watching her curiously and most of them, she was sure, expected her to turn DJ down. She savored the look of satisfaction at shocking them all, "Alright, your father and I talked it out and we've decided that you can go over to Marissa's if you want to, but we have to be on a plane bound towards the Capital at Noon, be here at ten, got that?"

DJ nodded, he was clearly excited to just get the hell out of there and Rose found that she had to force herself to not go after him. She had thought it many times today, but this was probably that proverbial moment where he was walking out on his childhood. When they were out of the apartment and the door was firmly closed, she snapped her head towards the others. Rachel, Daemon, Michael, Kailey, Robert, Caroline and Bobby looked at her expectantly. It took her a moment to regain her cool, "The rest of you off to bed, Mom and Dad, you can have DJ's Room, Bobby, just pull out the couch. The bedding is all there. Get one of the boys to help you if you need help."

It made her feel kind of better when her children all hugged her tightly. She no longer had to lean down to hug the younger ones. They had all grown like a weeds and Rachel had become a stunning …woman, now. It occurred to her that she'd be doing this with her another year from now with her seventeen year old daughter. When her children had disappeared through into the hall, she looked her brother and parents. She sighed inwardly, they had the look on their faces now. They could tell that she was feeling positively shitty right now. Before she knew it, she was being hugged tightly by her little brother, so tightly in fact that she was lifted off of the group, "Ok, ok, I'm fine."

"You sure," He grinned at her.

Rose laughed and nodded before she put two hands on his shoulders, "I'll be just fine, I'm just having the empty nest syndrome."

"Oh I remember that," Caroline took a sip of her drink, "I cried for a week when Lillian went off to school."

Bobby snickered, "I went out and bought a motorcycle after Vivi left."

"Unlike the rest of you however, I have four more to go," Rose shook her head, "I'm going to grab Jake and get to bed, I'll see you all in the morning."

**OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO**

Rose reached up and let out the pin that held the bun in her hair together and looked into the mirror. She had to admit, she still looked pretty damned young, but age was starting to show. A slight wrinkle there, though she didn't have many of them, a patch of gray that she covered up, it was starting to show and it wasn't that part that scared her. It was the thought that at least half of her life was over and there was nothing that she could do about it, "You know, I've never met someone as narcissistic as you are."

She looked up into the mirror at the sight of her smirking husband, "I suppose that you grooming that patch of gray around your left temple is what? A sanitation ritual. Hi Mister Pot, my names Kettle we're both black!"

"You look great Rose," Jake told her as he crawled into the bed, "Just use some hair coloring and makeup and you look 35, calm down babe."

Rose turned away from the mirror, "You ever think about mortality?"

"What human doesn't?" Jake asked, "Though, people with Dragon Chi tend to live slightly longer than your average person. Gramps was 106 when he died."

"The Huntsman's father was 101," Rose said as she stretched out.

Rose shrugged, "Maybe, we'll live into our hundreds."

"You have permission to kill me if I ever get that old," He said.

She laughed lightly before crawling into the bed and leaning up into him before relaxing into him, "You'd be giving me permission to do something that I've wanted to do since I was what? 14, 15, it seemed like a long time?"

"Both," Jake answered with an arm wrapped around her shoulder, "I assume that this request seems to go both ways? You know that I'd love to kill you."

Rose snickered, "You'd never get the chance sweetie, I might be a hundred, but I'm pretty sure that a 100 year old lady could kick the shit out of you."

"Only you dear," He grinned and leaned and kissed her temple, "And I happen to know that you're going through something of a midlife crisis, and you have no reason to be feeling it. You are drop dead gorgeous, you are a powerful woman, you have six beautiful children and seven beautiful grandchildren. You have men who drool over you all the time, I can't understand what this entire trip with mortality is, you're not dead yet."

There were not many times in her life when she sounded like a whiny little child, but this was indeed one of them. She looked up to her husband with wide blue eyes, "I have four beautiful children, the first two are stupid adults and don't need me anymore. You know that it's true Jake, it's too terrible."

"Be that as it may, they still need us," Jake reassured her, "DJ doesn't know the first thing about what he's getting into and Alyssa, she's helpless."

Rose chuckled, "You practically raised Alyssa, I was only there to put the icing on the cake, but this is different, I put a lot more of my own touch into DJ. Did you know that he's going to come to work for me at defense?"

"I thought you said he's going to CIA?" Jake asked.

"Well, something's come up that needs my attention primary attention at the Defense Department and I can't afford to split my attention," Rose said with a deep sigh, "I'm going to employ him at the Defense Intelligence Agency."

Perhaps if she hadn't been so integrated into the security procedures of the United States Government, she might have told him. At one time, she would have anyway, but there were not many details of her job that she could tell anyone, not even her husband. When she worked for the CIA, she had told him everything that he wanted to know, she knew that she could trust him and if by some chance if the time came if he were ever interrogated, he'd never say a word. But now she wasn't just a Federal Agent, she was second in command of the world's most powerful Military, she had to keep things secret and if she didn't, the risk of them getting out quadrupled.

Even if she told someone she unconditionally trusted, like Jake. And on some level, she suspected that he knew it and he had respected it in the two years since she had first began her position as DOD Secretary.

Jake threw his head back and laughed, "Oh man that cannot have been good, how does he fell about working for his mother?"

"Let's just say he understands and he's accepted it," Rose smiled back at him, "But he's told me that he'll quit if I attempt to embarrass him in any way."

Jake laughed again and scratched the top of his head, "Then that pretty much assures that he'll be out of a job by the end of the week."

**OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 **

As she tied her hair back into a loose high pony tail, Rose checked her appearance one more time in the mirror before leaning down and picking the duffle bag off of the floor. This had become an unfortunate tradition in her family for the past few years now when she went off to work and every time she found it slightly harder to go. When she turned and looked at her husband's face, she realized why it got harder. Jake always got that look on his face like he was some sad little puppy and Rose wanted nothing more than to take him to bed and tell him that she'd be back in a few days.

And maybe a little something with a teddy and a bowl of melted chocolate.

In fact, she always wanted to do that, but then she always realized that she'd probably get so behind that the President would chew her out and never pick a fight with a person who can actually order your death and get away with it. Well, she probably wouldn't be able to kill Rose, but it would still be a pain in the ass to piss off the most powerful woman on Earth.

Rose frowned and walked forward to wrap her arms around her husband's neck and pull him to a shoulder, like she used to do when DJ got a cut or a bruise. She couldn't help but chuckle slightly when he said something into her shoulder that came out muffled, "I don't want you to go, please don't."

A smile came across her lips as his arms circled around her waist and pulled her close, he always held onto her as if he was never going to let her go, which she liked, but he was awfully clingy and it took several minutes for him to pull him off. And if that didn't work, all she had to do was pull on his ear and that it would as simple as that, "I have to go sweetie, it's my job."

"We're rich, you don't need a job," Jake whined into her shoulder.

"I want a job, I don't want to be some bitchy housewife sitting on my ass and burning through cash," Rose smiled into his neck, "I'll be back in a few days Jake, and I'll Skype you tonight, like I always do babe, don't worry."

Jake growled when a knock on the door interrupted their moment and that's why she loved him, he was like a big stupid guard dog, "Is that prick Secret Service Agent out there waiting to stare at your ass when you walk?"

"Yeah, yeah he is!" Rose snorted and pulled away.

The former American Dragon growled again and pulled his wife back, "You sound like you enjoy that – is there something you'd like to tell me dear?"

"Yeah, I'm almost fifty and the fact that I can get a twenty nine year old to look at me like a piece of meat is very good for my ego," Rose leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek before walking back towards the front door, but she stopped and winked at him, "And like I've told you before, if I come home and find you with another woman, I'll kill you both."

* * *

><p>Secret Service Agent Jamie Briggens loved his job and he loved protecting his charge, this woman, the United States Secretary of Defense was an amazing woman and he couldn't ask for a better job. The little fact that she could outshoot him and kick his ass only went to further fuel his attachment towards the woman. When she stepped out of her apartment and smiled at him, he couldn't help but offer her an unprofessional smile himself.<p>

"Jamie," Rose smiled and took the dossier that he had in his outstretched hand, "And how are you doing on this fantastic day?"

"I'm great Madam Secretary," Jamie smiled and winked at her, "And you?"

Inwardly, Rose rolled her eyes, but outwardly she grinned, she wanted to be nice to the young man, he had her back when it was most vulnerable, not that Rose couldn't help herself, but still it helped to have an extra pair of eyes, "My husband is down in the dumps about me leaving, he always is, but you know, but you know it gets worse every single time it comes to leave."

"Why don't you just move to the Capital?" Agent Briggens suggested as they turned and departed down the hallway towards the elevator.

Rose snickered but then she shook her head, "You know have no idea how tired I am about hearing that suggestion – our oldest daughter suggested that and then our son suggests it, and they haven't really stopped. We talked about doing it, but then we took into account our younger kids and we asked them if they'd be alright about that, but they wouldn't because they want to be around their friends – so we let go of the idea."

"And how are your kids?" He raised a single eyebrow.

"Alyssa is as moody and bitchy as ever," Rose shook her head with a fleeting laugh, "She reminds me of myself when I was her age, DJ is now an adult and I have a hard time wrapping my mind around that. He spent last night at his girlfriend's apartment, which is something I've let him do two times now. Speaking of which, do you have a unit over there getting him ready."

Agent Briggens pressed his ear microphone and listened to his dispatcher as she read reports, "He's complied and he should be ready when we arrive."

Rose smiled and nodded, "Good, so don't have to watch them be gushy."

"You don't like your son's girlfriend?" Jamie raised an eyebrow.

"It's not that I don't like her, in fact I love Marissa, but I don't like anyone who takes my babies away from me," Rose responded and it was true, it was something that all mothers who loved their children felt at first, "I had the same issue with my son in-law, but that was more of my husband's issue with him, I was just sort of quiet with my disdain. I guess it's different for fathers, because he absolutely loves Marissa – I'll get used to her soon."

* * *

><p>He had always been skeptical of Jake's wife, but when he saw her departing out of the apartment complex with an armed quartet of big bulky guards with their sunglasses and earpieces walking towards a motorcade with blue and red flashing police lights, he was impressed with the former Huntsgirl. When she turned and looked at him, Rose smiled at him and nodded once before getting into the center SUV of the Motorcade. In his advanced age Fu Dog had stopped caring about what others thought of him or keeping his cover so tightly under wraps.<p>

When the motorcade was departed, Fu Dog shook his head with a smile and made his way to the apartment building. He didn't visit Jake all that often and when he did it was usually for official business for the council, seeing as he was still the official liaison to the American Dragon. Lao Shi had been dead for years and Jake had long stopped being the American Dragon shortly afterwards, but he still had to assist Alyssa, however that didn't stop him from wanting to visit the original American Dragon.

Padding towards the front glass doors of the building, he took a quick look around and stood up on his hind legs and pushed the door open and walked into the cool lobby. He always envied Jake for living here – it was a swanky building and even though all hell had broken loose many times in Jake's apartment, it had that air of elegance to it. Jake often complained about the complaints that his family had received throughout the years from their neighbors for the noise, the yelling, the sounds of fighting and gunshots.

They would have been evicted and probably arrested years ago if Jake and Rose didn't own the apartment outright and Rose didn't have her blanket immunity from the CIA and the ability to call police off of the call.

When he reached the elevator, he turned and took a sharp look around again before reaching up and pressing the elevator button.

* * *

><p>Rose sighed and shut the door of the SUV behind her before making her way towards Marissa's apartment building – luckily the whole sidewalk had been cleared off by the Secret Service and she didn't have to wade through the hundreds of people that were usually walking on the sidewalk at any given time. She had made sure to order Agent Briggens to stay behind in the car, because she knew for a fact that DJ didn't like him, in fact he hated him. It might have had something to do with the fact that the kid stared at her behind whenever he was walking behind her. Every time that the Secret Service Agent was within his sight, Rose could see the hate in her son's eyes. DJ could take the Secret Service Agent, so that was another motivation for her to keep those two away from each other, if pushed far enough, DJ would throttle the poor man, and his father might just play with what was left.<p>

Sighing, she pressed the elevator button and looked up to the counter that showed were the elevator was, she had never been more anxious to get to work.

* * *

><p>"You still take your coffee black?" Jake asked Fu with a raised eyebrow.<p>

The ancient canine nodded and took the cup of steaming hot coffee from Jake, taking a deep sip of it, he set it down on the table and looked up to Jake. He wished he had been there more to see Jake grow up from the teenaged boy he had helped train, to this man who had been through one hell of a life. It wasn't so much Jake's face that showed his age, you really had to look for the signs of aging on his face, but the two gray patches on his temples gave it away and it made Fu thankful that he didn't have hair. Jake smiled and took a sip of his own coffee, "So, what news do you bring from the Isle of Draco, are they still pissed at me for marrying Rose and having kids with her?"

Fu raised an eyebrow, "Only the irrelevant people still hate Rose – all of the important people adore her and you know that, the Pro Tempore, the Council, the Imperial Guard, the Military, some like her more than they like you."

"I was just curious," Jake shrugged and took a drink of his coffee, "I received a very nasty letter from the Pro Tempore about a year ago, shaming my involvement that they had with the war with China – apparently the US Government still does fly overs of the Isle, they can't see into it, but they've kept trying ever since. She hadn't banned me from the Isle, but she pretty much told me that I'm not welcome anymore, me and my wife."

Fu shrugged, "Sabrina is a kind heart, she was just a little angry, and yes, I know what you're talking about, she's not angry anymore, and she's afraid of Rose."

"Why?" Jake snorted and sipped on his coffee, "She's the most powerful Dragon in existence, that woman was able to evade the Dark Dragon for goodness sake, and Rose isn't scary – she's just a bitch when she's uncomfortable."

"Rose is the most powerful Hunter to ever live, and despite being the target of many plots to kill her, those who have tried are either dead, in prison, or married to them," Fu retorted with a sip of his coffee, "And don't pull out the Dark Dragon card, your grandfather survived him and killed him once, sure he was resurrected, but you know you killed him too and you killed him once and for all. By that logic kid, you're the most powerful dragon that ever lived."

Jake smiled and looked down to his coffee cup, "I'm hardly a kid anymore Fu, and FYI, they asked me to replace Gramps on the council after he died – kind of glad that I didn't nowadays."

"Compared to me, everyone is a kid, I've got what on you? Six hundred years? You're still a kid Jake," Fu chastised him, "But don't worry about Sabrina, in fact why don't you visit her?"

Jake's eyes widened, and then he looked up to the ceiling in a contemplative look, "What the hell? The kids are at school, Rose and DJ are in DC, Alyssa is doing god knows what, you up for a trip?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Fu grinned and got up from the chair, "You still have a stash of magical supplies here?"

"Yeah," Jake nodded, "Hall closet, the key to the closet is the stand next to it – don't ask, Rose made me put a lock on it after Daemon got into it and turned Kailey into a goat."

Fu snorted and turned to leave the kitchen, "Wish I could have seen the look on her face."

"No you don't," Jake shook his head with a small smile.

* * *

><p>Knocking on the door, Rose folded her arms over her chest and waited for someone to answer the damned door – she was a fairly intuitive woman and she had a very, very bad feeling on what awaited her on the other side of the door. Tapping her high heels against the floor, she waited another few moments before her sons voice came from behind the door, "Hey Agent Turner, haven't you ever gotten laid before? Just give me five more minutes."<p>

Rose's eyes widened and her mouth promptly followed – oh hell no, he was not going to do this on the first day of his new job, let alone when she was less the a few hundred feet away. She knew that her son had been sexually active since he first got together with Marissa. She knew that her son had smoked cigarettes. She knew that her son had gotten drunk – but she would be goddamned if this was going happen right now. She knew that it was happening, but she liked to live in the delusion that her children didn't do these things – DJ was shattering that illusion and that was simply not okay.

Clenching her fists, she banged on the door and used the voice that she had perfected in twenty years of motherhood and nearly a half century of having a Huntsgirl mentality, "Try again David Jacob Long – you have fifteen seconds to put your goddamn pants on and to cover Marissa up, and you have five more seconds after that to open this door, or I'm going to use this spare key that your girlfriend unwisely hides in this very subtle potted plant, got it."

"Coming Mom!" DJ shouted once more.

You know that moment when you just want to crawl into a hole and die? This was it, the moment when he foolishly pressed his luck and his mother barge in on him and his girlfriend in a private moment. Before he opened the door, he made sure that his sweatpants were completely pulled up over his hips, this moment would be awkward enough as it was. Opening the door, he was met by the blazing blue eyes of his mother and when she looked him up and down, a blush creped over his face. Rose sighed and walked into the apartment right past him, making sure to slam the door behind her, "Relax sweetheart, I wiped your ass for the first year of your life, I've seen it all honey and I've seen you do things that you really don't want to remember doing, we have few boundaries left and now thanks to this moment, we have one less boundary to worry about."

"Sorry Mom," DJ scratched his head awkwardly, "You were running late and I thought I had some spare time, and I thought that I could…"

"Oh don't tell me what you thought you could do," Rose shook her head and put her hands on her hips, "Where are your clothes? Where are the ones that you were planning to wear to the Capital?"

DJ sighed and ran his hand through his messy hair, "The clothes that I were planning to wear are hanging in my closet in Marissa's bedroom, the rest of them are in my suitcase."

"Alright, I don't want to know why you have a closet in your girlfriends bedroom, when you don't even live here," Rose shook her head, "Just get in the shower, I'll get your clothes ready."

His identical eyes widened, "But Mom-…"

Rose growled and brought up her leg to kick him in the ass, literally, towards the hallway, "Just get your ass in the shower."

* * *

><p>"Hi Mrs. Long," Marissa answered meekly as Rose practically kicked DJ towards the joined bathroom.<p>

Once DJ was in the bathroom and the door was shut behind him, Rose sighed and looked at Marissa sat in her bed with an overly large shirt covering herself. She wasn't normally the type to become suddenly nauseous, but the thought of what her son was doing only minutes before was making her stomach contract. Forcing a smile on her face, Rose turned towards the closet to the dresser where DJ's suitcase was, "Hi Marissa – having a good morning?"

"Yeah," Marissa answered with an uneasy smile, "Yeah, I was having a great morning."

"Great," Rose said dryly as she began to pull her son's socks and underwear out of his suitcase, "I'm glad that my son pleases you so, something every mother wants to hear."

Ignoring the stunned snort that Marissa let out, Rose sighed and when she set her sons underwear and socks out onto the of the suitcase before turning and walking back to the bathroom door and opening it. She bared her teeth and screamed over the steam that now filled the room, "You know what's really sad, is that my eighteen year old son can't get ready on his own and has to have his mom dress him like she did when he was three, that's fucking sad!"

Slamming the door behind her, she went to the close and began to pull out the dress jacket and dress shirt that DJ had brought with him to wear. She was surprised to hear Marissa speak behind her, "I told him we couldn't do it."

"Such a good influence," Rose mocked her in a high voice with her back turned, "Look – kid, I like you, but for the simple fact that you are doing my son, I'm a little pissed at you – so it's best that you don't speak to me for awhile."

"Okay," Marissa responded meekly and in that moment, the girl's pathetic response broke through to her.

Turning, she folded her arms over her chest, "I'm sorry Marissa, I'll get over it, Jake did with Johnny, I suppose I can with you too, just give it a little time."

The girl smiled at her, "I'm a patient person."

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note: I was at a complete loss in what direction to take this story, but a few days ago it finally hit me and I finally got around to writing this update, hope you liked it. I'm planning to bring the Dragons back in a higher capacity just so you know :D, it's been awhile since we've seen them. <strong>


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 **

**Jake's Point of View **

This wasn't working out how I had planned.

It was supposed to be just a visit to the Isle of Draco, nothing more and nothing less, and they should have known that I meant no harm whatsoever, but the moment that I stepped out of the portal with Fu Dog, I was attacked and arrested. I did put up a fight, as I naturally would have, but after a twenty minute fight and being after being outnumber by six guards, I was taken away. Now I was strapped to the wall in the palace prison wing, which was ironic I might add, considering I built this damned wing of the palace twenty years ago. I guess I should have learned from my childhood and never, ever listen to Fu Dog, because I was more than willing to let this go. Alyssa was the American Dragon, I was not, I had no business being here, but I let my curiosity get the best of me and now, I suspect, my curiosity was about to bite me in the ass, "General Long, you do remember the little note that the Pro Tempore sent you? That you are no longer all-…"

"Kid, you have two options right now," I growled at him, I was way old for this, I wasn't a teenager anymore and it took a lot to not just get completely physically exhausted by being just strapped to a wall, "You can either shut the fuck up and leave, or you can bring the Pro Tempore in here, and I can have a talk with her myself. Otherwise kid, when I get out of here, I'm going to snap your neck, and do not mistake this for a second, I will get out."

The young guard scoffed and cocked his head at me and he really had no idea who he was dealing with, these fuckers got younger every single year and I had thought that my name was on the list that they were taught to never disrespect. But apparently I had been blacklisted and now I was a pariah, because two years ago, before that little note, before our involvement with the human's wars, they wouldn't have dared, "What are you going to do it about it old man? I'm not that frightened of you…"

Okay, that fucking pissed me off and in the raw wave of anger that flooded through me; I felt my body changing in that all too familiar form of the dragon. My limbs stretched, my features elongated, my vision sharped to inhuman heights and I felt my wings unfurl, all of it was brought out in a wreath of fire and when I was fully in my dragon form, I glared down at the boy and roared at him. And I don't mean just like short roar, I mean roared so loudly at him that he actually fell back to avoid the flames that were now shooting out of my mouth. You did not insult me and expect me not to slap you down, especially if you were just a little underling. When people looked at my life, at least the people who knew 'both' sides of my life, they assumed that Rose had pretty much whipped me into submission. But make no mistake about this, I was by no means my wife's lapdog, I only played that role to make her happy and because I enjoyed it to a certain extent. But I wasn't weak, and that was people's biggest misconception about me, "Get her in here now you little bastard!"

"Y-yes G-General!" The guard stuttered and hopped to his feet as quickly as possible towards the door and I couldn't help but grin at his retreating form. This was terribly amusing to me, I was not at all concerned about being in here, because even if I wasn't able to get out of here, word would get back to Rose. And the best thing about having her as a wife was the fact that she could literally do anything that she wanted if she set her mind to it, and if she wanted to get me out of a Dragon Council Palace _all by herself_ she was more than capable of it. But again, that was in the event that I couldn't get out of here myself and I'd bet you my home that I could do it in my sleep.

**::::**

**Sabrina Nebroshka's Point of View**

"Y-you did what?" I stuttered at my guard captain's words.

This had the makings of a disaster of epic proportions because Jacob Long still held weight within the Government and he did have and edge that I did not have and one that I couldn't possibly defeat. I was talking about his wife, I appreciated Rose, I liked her, I really did and even though it had been decades since she was the Huntsgirl, she still very much that person.

And the Huntsgirl had chosen Jacob to be her husband and I knew that if my husband were incarcerated like this, I'd hit the roof and I would stop at nothing to get my husband out of those bonds and punish the people who ordered it. We had lived decades without the Huntsclan, we had lived in virtual peace, but that would be blown straight to hell when the Huntsgirl got involved. She was not only one of the last vestiges of the Huntsclan, but she was also a high ranking member of the United States Government and the head of its military. Oh goodness, this was going to be a disaster if I didn't handle it with care, but there was another thought that came into my mind as I thought about the words. The American Dragon's guardian! Fu Dog, that accursed dog! I snapped my head back to the captain, "Where is Fu Dog?"

"We let him go-…" But before he could finish the sentence, I had already flown out of my seat and had bolted around to the guard captain, before I wrapped my hand around his throat and growled, "W-What's wrong…"

"What are the odds that he's already informed her of Jacob's arrest?" I asked sharply, I wasn't subjected to utter and complete fear of Rose Long, but I wasn't foolish enough to think that she would not make my life complete hell if she found that her husband was arrested today. And I knew who she would look at when she found out, it would be me, and she'd come for me.

And when that happened, it would be my head or hers.

And that was a fight that I wasn't at all sure that I could win.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm not dead! Yay!**

**God it feels like such a long time since I've updated this, or updated at all for that matter. But I've pretty much had an ongoing case of writers block with all of these stories, and my life has taken a HECTIC turn, so I'm really not going to promise more consistent updates because that would be unfair to all of you. I'll only update when I can - and at least for the next month or so, that's not going to happen much. I can only hope that people are still reading this, I'm going to finish Anything and Everything, regardless if people are still reading it or not, but I do hope that you're still reading it. I'd also like state for the record, that all of these stories are AU, they're WAAAYYYY outside of canon, in case you haven't gotten that from the previous five stories or it's many spin offs so tell me something I don't know please. **

**Anyway - sorry I've been MIA for the past six months or so - this is only a visit, I'm not back full time yet, but I will be eventually to wrap up everything. **


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